


Summoned

by ScarletCake



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Art Student Shizuo, Bite Kink, Biting, Blood, Coffee Shops, Demon Prince Izaya, Demonic Contracts, Demons, Friends to Lovers, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Misunderstandings, Purring, Sign Language, Size Difference, Size Kink, Smoking, Strength Kink, Witch Celty, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-08-17 10:10:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 42,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8140174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletCake/pseuds/ScarletCake
Summary: Shizuo is an art student with a project he needs to complete and Izaya is the demon he accidentally summons in his bathtub.





	1. Now Is Not A Good Time

Shizuo has never been one to put much thought into demons.

He’s felt compelled to learn about them in the past, but never really went through with it until recently. Some of his classes have taken to the theme of the renaissance and the angels and demons contained therewith. The research he has done in the past few weeks has mostly been limited to the stereotypical appearance of demons, as the assignment was to sketch out whatever his imagination conjured of something called an incubus and he’d never even heard the term before then. Google was entirely useless with image searches. All he was able to find were half naked, edgy looking anime characters. Trying to find in depth descriptions of them wasn’t any better as they’re supposed to take on the form of who one desires most. Maybe it’s meant to be a test of their ability to differentiate what they want most in a partner, but he doubts this particular professor is looking that far into the assignment.

At the time the assignment was given, he didn’t want to ask Celty for the favor of borrowing one of her books. But he was desperate and he’s always found that he likes books far more than the internet as it is too unpredictable and he doesn’t have the patience or self control to deal with anyone he might meet there. He needs his laptop for more detailed artwork assignments and practice, so he certainly doesn’t want to risk breaking it in a fit of rage over something that shouldn’t matter to him.

So he’d been forced to ask Celty for help.

The book she gave him is one of her favorites. She told him that it’s about demonic princes and their servants. It sounded interesting at the time and she seemed so enthusiastic about him reading it that he had taken it readily. Even if it doesn’t specify enough information about incubi, it’s still something he can discuss with Celty later, and he is always willing to learn about his best friend’s interests.

He has been completely absorbed in it every time he’s picked it up since the day she gave it to him.

The table of contents indicated that each section is close to one hundred pages long, with small synopses in between that give more in-depth information on the less important aspects of the chapters.

The book starts off with Lucifer, which is the only being in the book that Shizuo knew anything about beforehand judging by his cursory glance over the section headings, and then steadily goes through the other seven princes and finally moving on to their servants. The first section has taken him about a week to read thoroughly. He took notes the first few days and has made a few sketches of what he believes Lucifer might look like, though the book is vague so an exact image is next to impossible.

Shizuo is in the middle of reading while sketching out yet another rough outline of Lucifer when someone knocks on his door. He growls under his breath at the interruption. He’s so close to the second section, so close to learning about the next prince. He’s been growing more excited about learning about them so if the person at his door isn’t bleeding or Celty, he’s going to be pissed. He doesn’t close the book in hopes that he can come back to it immediately, but he does place the bookmark he’s been using on the page just in case. Clambering out of his blanket is a bit harder and he trips over it when he finally pulls enough of his legs free to stand upright.

He’s glaring in irritation and discomfort all the way to the door. It’s Kadota standing in the hallway and he’s not bleeding, but he looks apologetic enough that Shizuo’s irritation dies down a bit. “Hey, sorry to bother you. It’s kinda late.”

Shizuo frowns, “It’s fine.”

“Celty said she has something she wants to show you, but you weren’t answering her texts so I came to check on you.” Kadota explains, scratching at his temple in that way Shizuo’s noticed him doing when he’s nervous before class. He’s not wearing his hat and Shizuo’s pretty sure this wasn’t something he meant to do, that this may have interrupted something he was doing because he never walks around without his hat on. He smells faintly of sweat. Shizuo consciously chooses to make the assumption that he was in the gym in the next building over instead of thinking about Togusa’s silent presence behind him. “But if you’re too busy I get it. I can text her and let her know you’re--”

“Thanks, I didn’t mean to cause trouble for you or Celty.” Shizuo interrupts before Kadota accidentally trips over information he doesn’t actually want to hear, “I’ll go meet her.”

Ten minutes later he knocks on Celty’s door. As soon as she opens the door she gives him a small smile and signs several apologies before he can explain that all he was doing was reading the book she let him borrow. Shinra is squealing delight about something Celty has accomplished on the other side of the room and Shizuo deliberately ignores him in favor of Celty’s much more coherent and detailed explanation.

He will never understand their relationship, but at least Celty seems happy.

It’s several hours later before Shizuo returns to his dorm. He smells like incense, lavender, and sage, none of which he wants sticking to his sheets. He glances at the book he left open on his bed and then at the alarm clock that’s glaring 11:37 at him in the purple he settled for over the green he’d used at home. The room itself is warm and dark other than the light from the clock and the small plug in light he has in the kitchenette. It’s hard to make out much detail in the dark, but Shizuo is neat and knows where everything is so he doesn’t trip on his way to pick up the book, sweatpants and a shirt, before going into the bathroom to prepare a bath for himself.

He hasn’t quite made a habit of reading in the bath, but he used to do so a lot at home. Baths are relaxing enough that he can focus on reading without getting drowsy and he’s rarely disturbed by anyone or can ignore them if they knock on his door. It’s nice to have his own bathroom now that he’s in college because he always felt selfish if he took too long at home, despite Kasuka telling him he didn’t mind.

Shizuo reads while the tub fills and he’s nearly to the last page of Lucifer’s section when the tub is full enough that he can get in. He decided to use the vanilla soap that Celty was kind enough to buy him for his birthday this year and there are small bubbles dancing along the surface of the water when he steps into it.

The water is still steaming, yet he doesn’t feel anything but warmed by it. His heat tolerance has always been exceptionally high. Shinra has marvelled over it, along with his strength and pain tolerance and faster than normal healing. Shinra wasn’t around much to see all of the bones he broke in middle school, but he saw too much of what Shizuo did in elementary school. By high school none of his bones could be broken anymore.

It’s not something he likes to think about.

He’d decided to go to university mostly out of a need to get away from those who knew what he was capable of. He’s very grateful that Shinra hasn’t spread that information around at the college in all four years Shizuo has been here. He can do whatever he wants after Shizuo graduates at the end of next semester.

When Shizuo finally flips to the synopsis of Lucifer’s information he skims over most of it, turning the pages quickly in his excitement to get to the next prince. He hasn’t looked ahead, he hasn’t skipped pages, and it has paid off with how well he understands the information on Lucifer, but he’s impatient.

It’s always that impatience that gets him in trouble.

The very last page is blank so he knows it’s the one that leads into the next section. He turns it quickly, sitting up slightly to give better focus to the page in front of him and before he’s even caught a glimpse of the name on the page his attention is caught on the sting in his index finger, from a tiny paper cut that’s only just deep enough to pool blood to the surface. He frowns and lifts his hand to lick away the blood, but it drops onto the page.

Shizuo doesn’t have time to try to smear the blood away before a faint trail of white smoke pours out of the spot where his blood landed. Both vanish within seconds and he starts to cross his legs so he can sit up straight to make sure he didn’t just imagine what happened.

Suddenly, black smoke begins pouring out of the page, spilling over into the tub across Shizuo’s lap and something solid starts to materialize there. He flinches back, releasing the book and it slips off of the precarious position Shizuo placed it in, closing with a solid thump when it hits the floor. The spill of black smoke stops coming as soon as it’s closed, but Shizuo isn’t paying attention to any of that anymore.

His attention is stuck on the very real, very alive, very naked being in his lap. He freezes, staring at the other’s face in complete shock. He has fangs like what he’s always associated with vampires and there are small curved black horns on top of his head, surrounded by hair that’s even darker. Shizuo keeps his eyes up, unwilling to look at whatever is currently touching his stomach.

The being is frowning in vague confusion and definite anger when their eyes meet. “What did you do? This isn’t my bath,” bright red eyes narrow further, slitted pupils expanding slightly to take in more light, “I don’t like being interrupted.”

He presses in closer to him and digs sharp fingernails into his chest, “Where am I?” There is a growl underneath the words that sounds familiar to Shizuo’s ears, though he can’t place why. “It’s cold here. It’s never cold there.”

Shizuo blinks himself out of his stupor and glances down at the nails drawing blood from his skin. In the process he catches an accidental view of what is definitely a penis. He quickly looks back up to the relative safety of the other’s eyes and something flicks into focus behind him.

He has a tail.

It isn’t the sharp, arrowed tail of what he’s seen for demons in most human depictions of them. Instead there’s hair at the end in a tuft that looks even softer and fluffier than what is on top of his head. The tail itself appears just as dark as the rest of his hair, but he can’t see if it trails all the way to his back and doesn’t get a chance to sate his curiosity before the nails in his chest dig in deeper and the being hisses at him. “Answer me.”

“I’m--I don’t know how you got here. Where did you come from? Are you--” Shizuo swallows thickly and sits as still as he can, “are you Lucifer?”

Amusement breaks out across the demon’s face, his frown changes abruptly to a grin and he’s laughing, shaking in Shizuo’s lap as he brings his arms back in to curl them around his stomach. “Me? I’m not. What gave you the impression that I am?” he breaks off in a soft bark of laughter, “We look nothing alike. Lu’s incredibly unattractive, you know. Claims that’s to ward attention away from himself, but I know better. He’s just naturally unappealing. Probably a part of the Fall or maybe from the War itself, but who cares.” He smiles at Shizuo, looking very pleased with himself, even a bit arrogant despite his rather compromising position, “I’m Izaya. Prince of Greed.”

Shizuo frowns at him and sits up to lean over the side of the tub, destabilizing _Izaya’s_ balance in the process. Shizuo hisses in irritation at the pain of his nails digging into his back. The book is closed, but his bookmark is still holding his previous place. He opens it and flips over the few pages to where the smoke had started pouring from. There is a picture of a pair of eyes and teeth in darkness, but nothing that matches up to what’s in front of him. Above it is _Mammon_ , listed in golden lettering for the Second prince’s name. “This says your name is supposed to be Mammon.”

Izaya’s nails dig in further to his back when he tips sideways to look at where Shizuo is indicating. He squints at it and then giggles and sits back up, “Humans come up with such strange names. Lu said they’ve called me Mephisto as well, but Mammon is a new one.” He pauses and frowns at Shizuo, “What is your name?”

“I--”

“Shizu-chan!” Erika’s voice squeals loudly from outside his door, “Shizu-chan I have a surprise for you!”

“I don’t need anymore surprises tonight,” Shizuo grumbles under his breath and then louder, “I’m busy, leave me alone.”

“Aww, but Shizu-chaaaaaan,” she whines, “I wanted you to--”

“I don’t care. I’m trying to study and I want to be alone. It’s near curfew anyway, go back to your room.” It was near curfew when he got back to his room earlier, he’s certain it’s _after_ curfew by now. Izaya is giving him a strange look while his tail flicks around behind him.

He can hear her complaining as she walks away but he doesn’t try to focus on what she’s saying. Izaya digs his nails into Shizuo’s skin again and he growls lowly. He opens his mouth to protest but Izaya glares hard at him and he freezes in confusion, “Shizu-chan? That does not sound like a name. Is that a title?”

“Uh. No it’s...just what Erika calls me. Even though I’ve told her not to call me that numerous times.”

“What is your name then? I do not understand.”

“My name is Shizuo. She just--”

“Why does she add -chan to your name then?”

Shizuo sighs and tries to push Izaya’s hands away from him but he only latches on harder and narrows his eyes further, “I think she does it to be cute. Usually -chan is used by children or by someone you’re really intimate with.”

“Intimate.” Izaya repeats, his eyes lighting up in recognition but he does not look at all pleased even with this knowledge, “So you’re intimate with Erika?”

“No, god no. That’s disgusting.” Shizuo says immediately, “I mean, she’s pretty but I’m not into girls.”

“What does that have to do with intimacy?” Izaya asks, “Intimacy is sharing a space and touch with another being, isn’t it? Or do humans have a different view of this?”

Shizuo scratches at the back of his head and tries to think of a way to explain dating that a demon might understand. “Well, for...humans, intimacy is usually kissing and being exclusively close with one individual. And some people like girls and some like guys and some--”

“I understand what you are talking about in concept, but what you are describing doesn’t exist where I am from, using the same word. Intimacy is just physical closeness with the occasional shared touches, usually for the purpose of blood sharing.”

“Blood sharing?” Shizuo is bewildered by this. He didn’t read about that at all in Lucifer’s section of the book, “Is that like, what vampires do?”

“I don’t know what vampires are, but blood sharing is an exchange of power through blood. For example,” he presses the nail of his index finger in harder against Shizuo’s chest and draws more blood. He lets it collect a bit and then pulls his finger away and toward his mouth, “Your blood contains whatever power you possess, which shouldn’t be much because humans don’t have much power. If you share it with me then I will gain an equivalent to what you have given.” He licks the blood off of his finger and closes his eyes in what looks like concentration, “I don’t…” his eyebrows pull together in confusion and he blinks open his eyes to meet Shizuo’s, “you don’t taste quite like a human is supposed to. From what I’ve been told by the other princes who have been summoned, you’re supposed to taste like iron, but that’s not all I’m getting. That’s hardly present at all.”

Izaya leans in closer and Shizuo presses his back firmly against the wall when he gets too close. Their noses brush against each other and he’s still trying to concentrate on the conversation and not the fact that there is a naked demon prince in his lap, in the bathtub of all places, but it’s really difficult to do that when he keeps moving.

Maybe this is why his mother warned him not to read in the bath all those years ago. He doubts that she experienced anything like this, but if he had listened he might not be in this situation.

“You taste like something I should know.”

Shizuo exhales slowly and reaches to put his hand on Izaya’s waist in an attempt to push him back some, but the other hisses at the contact. He jerks his hand away and tries to ignore the amount of blood trailing down his chest from where Izaya’s nails are digging into his skin, “I’m...pretty sure you’ve never met me before.”

He raises an eyebrow and his lips pull up in amusement, “I’ve never been summoned before. I’m completely positive that we’ve never met.” then he frowns, “How did _you_ summon me?”

“I don’t really know. I was reading the book and I got a paper cut and some blood fell on the page and then smoke started coming out of it and...here you are.” Shizuo explains all in one breath, hoping that if he does it quickly enough that it will seem less unbelievable but Izaya is looking at him with disbelief clear on his face.

“That’s not how that works. You must have done something else. Did you draw a circle or something? Did you think about all the things you’re greedy with? Did you sacrifice someone? There isn’t any blood in here but...you _must_ have done something more than _that_. I wouldn’t have been brought here otherwise.” He hisses and his tail flicks irritably around behind him, “No one has been able to summon me before. Surely it’s not that easy.”

Shizuo shrugs and relaxes marginally when Izaya’s nails stop digging so hard into his skin. “We can ask Celty when she gets back on Monday. She’s supposed to be visiting a friend this weekend with Shinra. I think they’re just leaving to have time alone somewhere that they won’t be interrupted, but. Will you get out of my lap? We can’t stay in the bath forever.”

Izaya blinks at him and looks around the room, “How do you dry yourself if you don’t have any fire around?”

“Fire?” Shizuo asks but shakes his head when Izaya looks back at him and opens his mouth to explain, “Not right now. Tell me later. I use towels. The blue fabric hanging on the wall.” He indicates the wall to his left, “I only have two so we’re going to have to share.”

This time when he reaches forward to push Izaya back out of his lap he is compliant and doesn’t hiss. He looks incredibly displeased when Shizuo takes his hands off of him and he’s still frowning at the water when Shizuo has stepped out of the tub and wrapped a towel around his waist. He feels much better now that he’s somewhat modestly covered.

“You can’t stay in there. It’s going to get cold soon.”

“Why is everything so cold here.” Izaya grumbles under his breath. He stands up without warning and Shizuo tries to keep his eyes up and away from his waist or his tail or anything lower. He starts shivering violently and continues to do so even after Shizuo wraps the towel around his shoulders. Around his own shoulders it barely reaches his waist, but the other is much smaller than Shizuo expected and it blankets him down to his thighs.

“I have clothes I can give you to wear, hang on.”

He can hear Izaya stutter “C-clothes?” while he’s digging through his dresser for something that might fit him, at least better than what he usually wears, but it has been a really long time since he was Izaya’s size and everything is several sizes too big for what he thinks might fit him. He settles for a pair of soft red sweatpants he forgot he owned and a black, long-sleeved shirt. Izaya is standing in the same spot when he comes back and he gives Shizuo a quizzical look when he tries to offer the clothing to him. “What am I supposed to do with those?”

“Put them on.” Shizuo suggests. “You don’t have clothes where you came from?”

“What are clothes?” Izaya meets his eyes and there is absolutely no indication that he’s lying about not knowing what he’s talking about.

Shizuo frowns, “Do you know what blankets are?”

“Of course I know what blankets are.”

“Clothes are like...form fitting blankets.” He places the sweatpants on the sink and holds the shirt up, “Like this. Except for you it won’t be form fitting.”

Izaya narrows his eyes at the shirt. His eyes flit back to Shizuo’s face and then to the shirt again, like he can’t decide whether he believes him or not. Then he drops the towel and steps forward. He doesn’t hold his arms up or move to do anything else except stand closer and stare. Shizuo hesitates, “Do you...want help putting it on?”

“Yes. I have no idea how to use clothes.”

“This is a shirt, but that’s, yeah I can help. Hold your arms up.”

Izaya does as he asks but, “Why do I need to hold my arms up?”

Shizuo shakes his head and can’t help the small smile that Izaya’s out-of-place innocence brings to his lips, “You’ll see. Stay still for me.”

He’s careful to avoid catching the fabric on Izaya’s nails and then his horns as he pulls the shirt down over his arms and head, but he stops there. Shizuo didn’t notice beforehand that there are wings on the other’s back. He has them pressed tightly against his skin, but he can see that they’re black and look leathery like a bat’s wings.

He presses his hand against them and Izaya makes a noise that might be a purr but it’s too short for Shizuo to figure out where it’s coming from. The skin along his wings is soft and when he steps closer to watch what he’s doing and to prevent the shirt from catching against the skin of Izaya’s wings, he can see where Izaya’s tail attaches to his spine. His assumption that the black fur on his tail carries all the way to his back is correct. He’s curious if it’s as soft as it looks but he doesn’t touch it, afraid of what Izaya might do or think if he did.

With the shirt covering his body he looks almost human, except for the horns and slitted pupils and occasional motion of his tail, which Shizuo is not watching for fear of catching an accidental view of the other’s ass. He steps back and Izaya is frowning unhappily at him. “What’s wrong?”

“It feels...constricting.” he tugs the hem of the shirt further down his thighs and his tail flicks around irritably. The sleeves are bunched up around his fingers and elbows and he glares at them when his nails catch on the edges, “How do humans deal with this? Is this how you have chosen to handle the cold? Surely there are better ways.”

“Do you feel any warmer than you did?” Shizuo asks while he tugs his sweatpants on and removes the towel from his waist to hang it back up along the wall, “You’re not fully covered yet so probably not by much.”

Izaya is staring at his pants when Shizuo looks back to see why he isn’t responding, “What are those?”

“Pants.” Shizuo explains lightly, “They’re less annoying than shirts are.”

“Those look _worse_.” he whines and backs up against the wall beside the sink when Shizuo picks up the pair he chose for Izaya. “They’re going to cover up my tail!”

“It’s not that bad, calm down. At least try putting them on before you decide you hate them.” Shizuo takes a step closer and when Izaya doesn’t reach out to take the pants from him he kneels down and grabs his ankle. “You’re acting like a child. Lift your leg.”

Izaya glares down at him and hisses, “No. I don’t want to. You just want me to be uncomfortable.”

Shizuo narrows his eyes and tugs Izaya’s leg up, upsetting his balance and making him scramble to flatten his back and hands against the wall. He pulls the material halfway up the other’s calf before he hears an agitated growl and Izaya tries to yank himself free of the hold Shizuo has on his leg. “I don’t _like_ it. I don’t need pants!”

Shizuo looks up to tell Izaya to calm down but he’s met with fangs and a glare. Izaya swipes his claws at him and Shizuo grabs his wrist before his nails meet his skin. The other tries to pull his hand away and looks confused when he can’t. Shizuo himself can barely feel the strength Izaya is putting into it, but he can see it in the tension on his face, at the corners of his lips and the tightness around his eyes. He releases him at once and Izaya falls over, but Shizuo catches him before he hits his face on the floor and raises an eyebrow at the growl the other releases at the contact, “Would you rather I’d let you fall and get hurt?”

Izaya narrows his eyes and bares his teeth menacingly at him, “How are you that strong? You’re not _supposed_ to be! Humans are weak.”

There is a part of him that wants to lash out at the insinuation that he’s unnatural, the very thing he’s heard for his entire life. But Izaya is a demon, he doesn’t mean this in the same way as everyone else that’s made assumptions about him because of his strength. He isn’t calling Shizuo a monster, he isn’t screaming in fear from his touch. He’s upset because he’s somewhere unfamiliar and he’s cold and with a human that doesn’t match up with the norm.

Shizuo sighs and releases the hold he had around Izaya’s waist, “I’m...different, I guess. I don’t have an explanation. Will you just put the pants on so we can leave the bathroom? You’ll be more comfortable if you can sit on the bed with blankets around you and I’m really tired so I’d like to figure this out so I can sleep.”

Izaya glares at him and yanks the material out of Shizuo’s hands, “Fine. But only because it’s cold and I want the blankets.”

Shizuo doesn’t stay still to watch him tug the pants over his hips, instead picking up the shirt he had originally grabbed for himself and pulling it on as he walks out of the bathroom. He remembers belatedly that the book is still on the floor and the tub is still plugged but he doesn’t turn around for fear of being met with the sight of Izaya’s ass or too much leg or even his hips. Thinking about this does nothing to distract him from the very real presence of a demon in his dorm room.

Normally he would text Celty about something like this, but he’s worried about Shinra seeing it and interrupting their weekend for possibly no reason. For all he knows, Izaya might disappear in the next few hours. This could be temporary.

Shizuo sighs and pulls another two blankets out of his closet, tossing one on the couch and the other onto the bed. In a last minute thought he searches through his dresser for that thick pair of socks Erika bought him for his birthday. He never understood the purpose behind them, but he thinks Izaya might like them and they’re thick enough to help keep him warm.

He’s been sitting on the couch for a few minutes by the time Izaya steps out of the bathroom and he almost starts laughing. Unable to fight back the smile of amusement that breaks out on his face, Shizuo averts his eyes and stares at the curtains instead.

Izaya has put the sweatpants on backward. Shizuo doesn’t know how he accomplished this when he’d already helped pull one of the legs partially up his leg for him, but he doesn’t say anything about it. When he feels like he can face him without bursting out into breathless laughter, he glances over at him to find red eyes on him. The highly agitated tail swishing around behind him catches Shizuo’s attention before he can focus entirely on the expression on the other’s face. Now that he has a full view of the other and the whole length of his tail he’s reminded of a lion’s tail, except he’s never seen a black lion in person before. “Your tail seems fine to me.” Shizuo announces and his voice comes out blessedly level.

Izaya, however, is not fooled. “This is not amusing. I do not like having something impeding my movement.”

Shizuo doesn’t watch him at all while he crosses the room and sits lightly on the bed. And he definitely doesn’t think it’s cute when he unfolds the blankets and pulls them around himself and curls up into a ball. Demons aren’t supposed to be cute. “Aren’t you warmer with it on though?”

“Blankets are more useful.” Izaya glares over at him and rolls onto his side. His hair fans out and Shizuo suddenly remembers the sharpness of his horns.

“Uh, I um,” Shizuo trips over what he’s trying to say because how exactly is one meant to ask a demon prince to be careful not to tear fabric with his horns, “is there any way that you can keep your horns from ripping up the pillows? I don’t have enough time to go get more and I hate ordering stuff online.”

Izaya looks at him like he’s grown a second head. Which, when he thinks about it, might not be usual to him. “I can.” is all he says in response.

They’re quiet for awhile and eventually Shizuo remembers that he forgot to empty the tub. The book is still on the floor, closed and looking far too ordinary for having dropped a demon in Shizuo’s lap. He’s tempted to leave it sitting there, concerned that he might accidentally summon something else, but it is Celty’s book and he’s positive she wouldn’t want him to leave it on his bathroom floor.

Izaya is asleep in a tight ball when he comes back.

Barely any of the outline of his body is visible beneath the two blankets, but his head and the fingers of one of his hands are pressed against the pillow above the line of material. He looks peaceful, innocent despite the fact that he is a prince of hell and can’t possibly be innocent.

Shizuo doubts he’s supposed to look this cute, but he doesn’t know if he looked any different or more intimidating in his own dimension.

He settles himself on the couch and focuses on pulling the blanket over his legs in an effort to stop staring at the other. Shizuo doesn’t remember the last time he had someone in his bed, if ever. Aside from Celty when she’s accidentally spent the night, he’s never really had anyone stay in his room for long periods of time. He prefers to be alone where he can’t do any harm to someone accidentally.

As his mind begins to wander so do his eyes. And the only thing in the room that he’s interested in, the only thing that is new and different is Izaya.

Izaya is small. Much smaller than Shizuo would have expected if he’d been given the chance to create a mental picture of what Mammon looked like beforehand instead of having him land in his lap before he’d even read his name. He looks delicate and fragile, not that Shizuo has any inclination to test whether he is in actuality. Shizuo knows that demons are hardy, it said as much in the book, but he didn’t get a chance to look through Izaya’s section and there is a distinct possibility that there is information in there that is wrong if Izaya is to be taken seriously about calling Lucifer unattractive. With how cold he gets Shizuo doesn’t feel the slightest bit threatened by any magic he could possess because surely he would have used it to warm himself or lash out at Shizuo with more than just his nails.

And he feels oddly protective over the other already. He isn’t sure if that’s from the blood sharing thing Izaya spoke about or if there is some detail the two of them are missing in all of this. He doubts Izaya would be able to tell him if he asked because he’s never been summoned before. The only one he can think that might know the answer is Celty and he’s not going to disturb her so that may have to wait until Monday if the problem is still relevant by then.

He stares at Izaya’s relaxed expression for far longer than he means to and eventually he must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knows his alarm is going off. He can already feel the effects of staying up too late on one of the few nights he has to get more rest.

Shizuo reaches out to shut off the alarm but his hand connects with empty air. He’s confused for several groggy moments until he notices that the sound is further away than he’s used to it being. The noise drags him further into consciousness and it’s about the time he’s shifting his weight onto his elbows that he notices the extra pressure on top of his chest. He blinks the blur of sleep from his eyes and is met with a dark head of hair right below his chin. The sound cuts off a moment later and Shizuo doesn’t move to reset it.

The blankets he gave to Izaya are still wrapped around him and when Shizuo risks a glance over at the bed he sighs in relief that his sheets and pillows are undamaged. But that doesn’t help him understand why Izaya moved from the bed onto him. Surely the mattress is more comfortable than Shizuo’s body.

He doesn’t move for several minutes. He isn’t sure if Izaya will lash out at him if he does. It’s possible that he will wake up in a foul mood and Shizuo wouldn’t blame him if he did. As he wakes up more he becomes aware of faint vibrations coming from the demon’s chest that he wasn’t able to feel before. But there isn’t enough sound coming from him aside from his breathing for Shizuo to be able to tell what it is.

Then Shizuo notices that his hands aren’t lying across his stomach like he thought they were. One is holding loosely to Izaya’s thigh and the other is draped over his waist. The only thing about this that keeps Shizuo from recoiling is the even breathing coming from the other.

He doesn’t want to wake him up quite yet, doesn’t think he’s mentally capable of dealing with this situation this early in the morning even as it is now. There are too many things about this that he doesn’t understand, but he can’t figure it out on his own and apparently Izaya isn’t going to disappear to return home without some action on Shizuo’s part.

It is at least an hour before Izaya shifts and blinks open his eyes slowly. Shizuo can feel hunger starting to gnaw away at him and Izaya’s stomach gurgles in complaint as he stretches languidly on top of Shizuo. He smirks at Shizuo’s hiss when he drags his nails across his shoulders and then sits up, dislodging the blanket nest he’d formed around himself in the process. Shizuo watches in half-amusement as he shivers and yanks them back up to cover his shoulders again.

“Why did you get off the bed?” Shizuo asks in a low voice, “Did you decide you needed to scratch at me immediately upon waking up in retaliation for me trying to help you?”

“It’s your fault I’m here at all, actually. So it wouldn’t be in retaliation for your assistance but for your disruption.” Izaya’s smirk wavers and he plays with the edges of the blanket rather than meeting Shizuo’s eyes, “I was cold and you’re the only thing around that was producing enough heat.”

“What d’you mean? Can you _see_ heat or something?” disbelief carries into his voice and Izaya laughs in response.

“Is it that unbelieveable, _Shizu-chan_?”

Shizuo growls before he can stop himself, “Don’t call me that.”

“Why not? We’re intimate aren’t we? You didn’t get that upset when _Erika_ said it.”

“We aren’t intimate, you’re just living in my room until I can get you home. This wasn’t a voluntary thing, _Izaya_.” Shizuo sits up and lightly pushes Izaya off of his lap so he can stand up and go brush his teeth. “I don’t know what your problem is with Erika already, but she does it to be cute. It isn’t, but she isn’t living in my room at least. People will think things if you call me that outside of the room.”

Izaya makes a small pleased sound from where he’s sitting, “So I can call you Shizu-chan when we’re not around other people? I don’t see why you’d be shy about something like that. After all, you just said I’m just here until you can get me home.”

Shizuo glances at him through the doorway and he has a smug look on his face, but his grin is too sharp for his liking. It makes him think the other is planning something and he doesn’t like it. Now that the knowledge that Izaya might be here for awhile has sunk in he’s suspicious of him. He feels that this is justified as the other is a demon prince and of all the demons he could have summoned accidentally it had to be the prince of _greed_. He has no idea what Izaya would have an interest in collecting or what he might be greedy over here on earth, but he’d rather not find out. Izaya might be cute and act innocent, but Shizuo knows better than to believe that and refuses to trust everything he says.

It hits him that he’s suddenly responsible for another being that has no idea how anything works. He doesn’t like clothing and he’s always cold and apparently he’s flirty despite not knowing what that means. Shizuo has absolutely no idea what he’s supposed to do, but he’s always been good at adapting and following his instincts. His instincts are screaming at him to protect Izaya and though he doesn’t understand this, he doesn’t question it, doesn’t really have a reason to yet.

It could be his size, it could be how inhuman yet still somehow human he is, or it could be from something Shizuo doesn’t yet understand, but whatever it is Izaya seems fragile and lost. The sharpness in his smile and the shadows in his eyes only further convince him of this.

Realizing that he’s been staring at the demon on his couch while he brushes his teeth, he blinks and shuts the door between them to prevent it from happening again.

When he makes breakfast he doesn’t expect Izaya to eat any of it, or at the very least he expects for him to hate it and demand something different, but he eats with wonder in his eyes and finishes everything on the plate Shizuo made for him.

After they’ve eaten Shizuo explains that he has assignments to work on but that he works in the afternoon, “I’m going to bring you with me and you’ll need shoes. I don’t have any that will fit you so we’ll need to leave earlier than I usually do.”

Izaya glares at him about this and curls up in a ball on the couch in what appears to be protest until he falls asleep.

Shizuo finishes his class homework assignments within two hours and reluctantly takes out his sketchbook to work on the incubus assignment. He’s still not entirely certain what an incubus would look like and his mind wanders over all of the information he’s read about them as he draws without a specific goal in mind. By the time the alarm he set to get ready for work goes off he has completely zoned out and when he focuses in on what he’s sketched he’s startled to see Izaya. The only difference between the drawing and how Izaya is currently lying are the blankets covering him entirely, hiding his tail from view but leaving the top of his head and his face in the open.

Shizuo shuts off his alarm and glares at the page for a few moments longer. Izaya stirs and he shuts the notebook quickly.

Izaya doesn’t immediately open his eyes this time. He turns over onto his stomach and stretches his back like Shizuo has seen cats do, and then he cocks his head to the side and looks over at him with a slightly bleary gaze. “We have to go soon.” is what Shizuo says and then he’s turning to stand.

Izaya doesn’t respond immediately, he just makes small sounds of protest and then sighs and then yawns once but doesn’t move to follow Shizuo to the closet or the dresser to look for anything to wear.

Shizuo dresses for work before he sifts through his day clothes to try to find something reasonable for Izaya to wear, but he already knows that nothing will fit him properly. It’s then that he remembers Izaya’s wings and tail and how very not human he looks. It’s not near enough to Halloween that it would be reasonable for him to dress in a costume and even if it was he would look too convincing.

People will ask questions, especially if they think it’s a costume.

“Izaya, do you have any way of looking less like a demon? Humans tend to question things that seem abnormal to them.” He turns around to meet Izaya’s eyes and he looks like he’s considering how to answer. “If you don’t then you might have to wear a hat and cover your tail with a shirt, which you said is uncomfortable.”

“It is uncomfortable. Even having blankets around me is uncomfortable, but something as restricting as these clothes are is even worse.” Izaya’s eyebrows draw together and Shizuo is tempted to tell him he can stay in the room when his horns start to shrink and his pupils fill out. When his horns are entirely gone and his eyes look normal except for their color, Izaya smiles triumphantly at him, “How do I look?”

Shizuo stares at him and waits to see if his tail makes an appearance and when it doesn’t he smiles back, “Almost human.”

“Almost?” Izaya asks in confusion and glances down at himself.

“Yeah, almost. Your eyes are red, which isn’t a human color, but no one will ask about that. People wear colored contacts all the time.” Shizuo turns back to his closet and in the very back he finds a flannel button-down shirt he doesn’t remember bringing with him from home at all. His mother must have put it in the closet when he wasn’t looking during her visit, thinking it was good luck or something to have an old shirt in the closet. He takes it out to check the size and it’s actually too small for him. Izaya raises an eyebrow at him when he turns around to hold it out to him.

“Why can’t I wear what I have on?”

“Because those are way too big on you and everything looks like it’s about to fall off of you.” suddenly he remembers something else that Erika has bought for him in the past that he had no intention of ever using, “I have some leggings I think, hold on.”

Izaya takes the shirt from him and asks “Leggings?” but Shizuo doesn’t answer him. In the very back of his underwear and sock drawer he finds them. He holds out the surprisingly soft material to show it to Izaya and he balks, “What are _those_? How do you put them on?”

He sounds as confused as Shizuo had the first time he’d seen them so he chuckles, “I can help. If you let me this time. I’d rather you didn’t try to claw out my eyes if you can help it.”

Izaya narrows his eyes, “I don’t like clothes.”

“Yeah, I know, you told me that. But you’ll have to get used to it while you’re here.”

This earns him a growl, “Humans are weird. What’s wrong with walking around without clothes, you all look the same.”

“Didn’t you say last night that it’s cold here? Maybe we do it because it’s cold.”

After several more minutes of arguing, Izaya ends up dressed in a pair of Shizuo’s darker jeans. He seems content in them and the shirt covers up most of what makes them look too big on him anyway, except where Shizuo had folded them at the bottom but even that looks like a style choice.

The only thing missing are shoes and Shizuo doesn’t have anything he could use. Izaya could potentially get away without wearing shoes for the length of time it’ll take them to walk over to the store to pick a pair out but Shizuo doubts he’ll be comfortable without at least a pair of socks on his feet. Then he remembers the pair he brought out last night.

“You probably won’t like these either but--”

“Are you seriously trying to give me _more_ clothes? My entire body is covered.” Izaya huffs in annoyance.

Shizuo doesn’t respond. He sits on the floor and holds out his hand for Izaya to give him his foot. Izaya hisses at him, but sits down on the floor opposite Shizuo and kicks his feet forward into his lap. “I don’t understand why this is necessary.”

“You will when we get outside.” Shizuo responds automatically, beginning to grow used to Izaya’s complaints, “It’s colder out there than it is in here.”

Izaya doesn’t complain about the socks once Shizuo finishes putting them on him. He doesn’t know if he’s starting to realize why Shizuo is giving him all of this to wear or if he’s just being passive aggressive now, but he accepts the silence and collects his wallet and keys and ignores the annoyed hiss that comes from Izaya when he slips his shoes on.

He’s probably realizing that those are what Shizuo is planning to go get for him.

Izaya shudders as soon as they step outside into the wind and Shizuo avoids eye contact with everyone giving him looks. It’s incredibly unusual for him to have someone walking around with him, especially a stranger. And even further, it’s very obvious that Izaya is wearing clothes that are too big for him and Shizuo knows what that looks like to outsiders.

He ignores the looks that others give to them and keeps his pace slow so that Izaya can keep up with him easily. Occasionally he looks over at Izaya to see him gazing around at things in amazement.

Izaya asks about the trees and the leaves and why some of the leaves are on the ground, he asks about the wind, he asks about the sky and the sun, he asks about a cat they walk past. He asks so many questions that Shizuo is struck with how much Izaya doesn’t understand or know about.

And when Shizuo stops in front of the shoe store he watches Izaya’s expression change from one of childish amazement to confusion at his own reflection. He remains silent until Izaya looks at Shizuo’s reflection and their eyes meet. “Have you seen a reflection before?” he asks, low enough that no one but Izaya will hear him.

Izaya shakes his head slowly and then looks at himself again, “It’s strange. Nothing is reflective like this there.”

“You don’t have mirrors?” Shizuo turns his head to look at Izaya rather than his reflection. His shoulders are tense and no matter how much fabric is covering him he can see that he’s shaking. Whether it’s from the cold or emotion, Shizuo isn’t certain.

“No. We don’t exactly need to be able to see ourselves. Humans are the vain ones. Or supposed to be.” he whispers the last part and then he turns his head to look at Shizuo again, “Why do you have them?”

Shizuo sighs and runs a hand through his hair, “It’s mostly to look at ourselves, honestly. They can be helpful with certain situations aside from that though.” Izaya nods and Shizuo is relieved that he doesn’t need to expound on that point. “Let’s go in now, I’m sure you’re colder out here than you will be inside.” Izaya nods again and follows him inside the store silently.

It takes a good ten minutes before they walk down an aisle filled with boots and Izaya suddenly freezes when he sees a pair of black boots. They don’t have a heel, which surprises Shizuo given that most boots have at least a bit of one, and they look like they’ll probably sit about mid-calf on his legs, but he seems to like them so Shizuo sizes him and picks the proper set out and has him try them on.

He doesn’t complain at all about feeling constricted in them. Shizuo thinks that he’s just picky about what he wears, but then he also didn’t complain about that with the socks this morning so maybe he’s less sensitive about his feet.

Shizuo tells Izaya he can keep them on. The older woman at the register smiles warmly at them when they approach her and Izaya watches with wide eyes while she scans the box and Shizuo informs her that he doesn’t need it.

They step outside again and the wind blows hard to meet them. Izaya shivers and tugs the sleeves of the jacket Shizuo gave him further down to cover his fingers. “The cafe I work at is only a few minutes from here. It’s...going to be awhile before my shift ends so you’re probably going to get bored.”

Izaya raises an eyebrow, “Bored? There are humans everywhere. I won’t get bored.”

And he doesn’t seem to. By the time Shizuo’s break rolls around, he has only made eye contact with Izaya once and that was when he was helping to bring an order to the people at the table next to him. Every time Shizuo risked a glance over at him he looked engrossed in whatever was holding his attention at that moment, whether it was out the window or at one of the tables in the cafe itself.

Shizuo makes coffee for both of them and brings over two cinnamon muffins. Izaya greets him with wide eyes and a small smile at the food and drink he sets in front of him, “Shizu-chan! Humans are so fascinating when they aren’t screaming in pain. This is a wonderful place to watch them from. Just look how many there are in this room, all packed together and comfortable despite that. And it’s warmer in here than it was in the shoe store. I am very grateful. Though neither are as warm as you are, they will have to suffice for now. I have so many questions for you and I have no idea where to start!” Izaya gushes and Shizuo takes a few sips of his coffee as he speaks.

“I think you should eat and drink first, then I can answer your questions for you. I have fifteen minutes. We have plenty of time for you to tell me what you’ve learned.”

Izaya fills his entire break with questions about some of the most mundane things, but it’s refreshing, Shizuo thinks. Izaya seems fascinated by the smallest things and he always gives Shizuo the entirety of his attention while he explains something, pauses for a few moments to take in the information and then he’s asking something else. By the time his break is over they’ve drawn the attention of at least two other tables with Izaya’s small outbursts of giggles, but Shizuo shrugs off their attention like it means nothing.

“I have to get back to it, but when I finish we can pick up dinner and go back to the room so we can talk in peace.”

Izaya frowns and growls a low note of displeasure, but nods his acquiescence.

Shizuo chooses sushi for dinner and orders a few sample boxes so that Izaya can find what he likes. Shizuo himself isn’t picky, so he can eat whatever Izaya doesn’t.

The entire evening is filled with questions and quiet giggles and Izaya’s smiles. The sharpness of his gaze is filled with amazement rather than the darkness of that morning or the odd tension when he saw his reflection and Shizuo is thankful for it. Smiles and happiness are things he’s good at dealing with. He doesn’t know what to do or what he can do when others are in bad moods or upset in some way. He’s a very physical being and he doubts Izaya would appreciate hugs or casual touches, but he slept on top of him last night so he really has no idea what Izaya’s boundaries are with such things.

Near midnight Izaya starts to yawn and his eyes start to look distant so Shizuo finds clothes for him to wear to bed and searches through his closet for a second toothbrush for him. He finds one and offers it to the other who gives him a confused frown.

So Shizuo shows him how to use it and then remembers that he hasn’t explained the functions of everything in the bathroom. “Uh, Izaya do you...need to pee at all? I don’t think I explained that to you yet.”

Izaya raises an eyebrow and smirks at him, “I’m not human, Shizu-chan. I don’t do that.”

“Oh.” Shizuo stands there for a moment, dumbfounded. For some reason he’d assumed that his body worked like a human’s. “You were able to eat though. Do you...not work like a human in other ways?”

Izaya laughs at him when he realizes what he’s said and he’s certain that his face is bright red with how hot it feels. “I don’t know what you mean by that, but it’s possible. There are some similarities of course. And I do like food despite not needing to excete waste from it. That is solely for humans and animals. Something that I am incredibly grateful for.”

Shizuo doesn’t know what to think of that. It’s strange to consider that Izaya’s body works differently from his own and, ignoring all the vulgar ways that his brain could go with that, he wonders if Izaya sweats. He probably doesn’t since he’s so used to living in such a hot place, but he’s curious nonetheless.

He doesn’t ask any more questions. There has been enough embarrassment during the last day and a half, there is no need for him to add to that with questions about the habits of demons when Izaya hasn’t shown the slightest sign of discomfort at heat or physical proximity. Quite the opposite in fact. But Shizuo feels strange, like he shouldn’t ask about those kinds of things, like Izaya himself is supposed to stay a secret, even to him.

He lets Izaya have the bed again and lays across the couch. He’s in the process of trying to get comfortable when he hears a sound start up from across the room. At first he thinks it’s the air conditioning unit turning on, but then it continues and it fades and grows louder in waves.

It takes him several minutes to realize that it is the sound of _purring_.

And the only source he can think of that makes any sense is Izaya, which still seems unreasonable but the longer it goes on and the more his eyes adjust to the dark the more clear it becomes that it is Izaya.

Izaya is purring. Like a cat.

Shizuo puts his hand over his eyes and tries to ignore the abnormality of the situation. It’s not all that hard to do, really. Especially considering he didn’t believe in demons two days ago and now he has one in his bed. The fact that Izaya purrs is more proof that he’s not a human, which is both comforting and confusing.

Shizuo falls asleep to the sound of his purring.

And wakes up to Izaya on his chest again.

He wonders if this will be a habit and if he should just stop giving up the bed because sleeping on a couch that’s too short for him to sprawl out completely on can’t be good for his body.

Izaya doesn’t take as long to wake up this time and when he opens his eyes he stares at Shizuo before he sits up to stretch. Shizuo quickly moves him out of his lap and swings his legs over the edge of the couch.

“I have to work again today.” he doesn’t look at the other as he says this, busies himself with picking out an outfit for him and then taking his work clothes into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.

The demon apparently felt the need to remove his pants in the middle of the night. And Shizuo failed to noticed for the entire hour he was lying awake with him on his chest. Luckily his hands weren’t touching skin, but there is still adrenaline pulsing through his veins.

He exits the bathroom after a shower and getting dressed to find Izaya struggling to put socks on. He’s fully clothed, which Shizuo is thankful for and nothing is backward so he doesn’t need to adjust anything aside from helping him with his socks and boots.

“Do you want to bring anything with you to do or are you alright with watching humans again today?” Shizuo asks while he ties Izaya’s boots and Izaya gives him a look of disbelief, as if that question is somehow offensive. “You don’t _have_ to, I just wanted to ask so you’d have the option.”

“What would I bring with me, Shizu-chan? One of those things that you use all the time?”

Shizuo frowns at him and looks at what he’s pointing at, “You mean a sketchbook? I’m an art student, I’m supposed to fill that by the end of the semester.”

“Can you show me what you put in it?” Izaya asks and when Shizuo meets his eyes he can see mischief there.

He narrows his eyes, “You already looked at it, didn’t you? You don’t need to see it again.”

“Aww, come on, Shizuo! I didn’t get to see everything in it. You got out of the shower too fast for me to get very far.” Izaya is whining and Shizuo growls and Izaya flinches when he accidentally tightens the laces of his boot too much.

“Sorry. You shouldn’t look at my stuff without asking. I’ll show you if you really want to see it that badly.”

“Can I bring it with me so I can look through it?” he’s looking at him with wide, curious eyes again and Shizuo is beginning to suspect he does that on purpose, “It will give me something else to do and maybe the humans won’t be so quiet around me if I am doing something other than staring at them or out the window. And I’m curious what sorts of things you find worthy of putting in something so important.”

Shizuo lets go of Izaya’s calf and stands up, “It’s not that important. It’s just a semester project. I’m supposed to draw an incubus for another class and I’ve been putting practice material in it for that as well.” he ruffles his hair and then stops when he remembers the sketch of Izaya that he has in that particular sketchbook, “Um. But I’m worried it’ll get damaged if you bring that one. I have another one from last year that I can let you bring, hold on while I get it.”

The demon doesn’t voice any complaints and takes the notebook from him when he holds it out, “We do need to go now though. We can eat breakfast at the cafe. I’m sure you’re hungry.”

Both of their stomachs growl after he says this and he chuckles while he turns to grab his keys and wallet so they can leave.

The day goes by quickly after breakfast. Izaya does what he said he would and slowly looks through the sketchbook without looking up for a long time. The cafe is rather empty for much of the morning, but he expects that on Sundays since most students are in their rooms or the library cramming in homework and studying or sleeping as much as they can to make up for the lack of sleep during the week. Shizuo’s schedule is fairly consistent all week and he works in the evenings usually, which is enjoyable because the students and faculty that show up tend to be too exhausted to talk much.

Izaya chose a different table today. The one in the corner must have seemed less conspicuous to him, but Shizuo knows it’s the favorite of most customers and they’ve all thrown sideways looks at the guy no one knows wearing too big clothes and staring at a sketchbook.

When he has a lull in customers he brings coffee over to Izaya along with one of the sandwiches he made earlier and Izaya smiles gratefully at him before returning to his slow progress through Shizuo’s notebook.

His lunch break is spent answering more of Izaya’s questions and only some of them are directed at his art instead of the people who have visited the cafe that day. Shizuo has noticed the way his coworkers are looking at him about bringing a guy with him to work for two days in a row, but none of them are brave enough to ask him about it and it’s one of the few times he’s been thankful for how intimidating he is because he doesn’t have an explanation for it other than the generic ‘he’s my friend’ that no one would believe.

Shizuo hasn’t ever really conversed with any of them so they’re unlikely to try to ask out of friendly curiosity either. Except for Tom, but luckily he’s not working until tomorrow morning when Shizuo is in class.

After lunch business picks up rapidly all the way until 5 when Shizuo’s shift ends.

Generally he would go back to his dorm room and make dinner, but he’s exhausted and is in the mood for cake, which he doesn’t have the time to make himself before he has to sleep. So he brings Izaya to one of his favorite bakery restaurants before returning to the room.

Izaya seems just as tired as he is and puts up absolutely no fuss about the far too large pajamas Shizuo gives him. And when Shizuo climbs into bed next to him he doesn’t respond at all, only rolls onto his side and presses his back against Shizuo’s arm.

He doesn’t hear purring until he’s already at the edge of unconsciousness.

Shizuo wakes up before his alarm goes off with an arm around Izaya’s waist and the other’s head burrowed in his shirt. He chooses to lay there, unmoving and with his eyes closed for the remaining few moments of rest he can get. When his alarm goes off he’s careful to shut it off and not move too quickly, hoping not to wake Izaya up.

He dresses in casual clothes and brushes his teeth with the door closed to make the least amount of noise possible and then he picks up his bag and sketchbook from beside the couch. He catches a glimpse of Izaya’s face before he burrows deeper into the blankets, still breathing deeply and purring occasionally.

He pulls on his shoes and shoves his keys into his pocket, steps out the door and closes it near-silently in hopes of not waking the demon in his bed.

Then he takes two steps and abruptly hits air that feels like a wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've talked for awhile about the other projects that I've been working on and this is one of them. I've had this idea in my head for many months now about Izaya as a Demon Prince so here he is, in all his glory.
> 
> I know that it is stated several times within the chapter itself that Izaya is small, but I thought I'd give you the specific numbers. For those of you that are from the US he is 5'1", exactly a foot shorter than Shizuo. And for the rest of the world, he is 155 centimeters. So he's tiny.
> 
> I won't give anything away, just know that I've been thinking about this au for months and I'm very fond of it. Which is probably apparent by how very long this first chapter is. I'm not sure if I will be able to follow up with chapters of this length, but I figured I'd give you a lot for the first part at the very least. I sincerely hope you enjoy reading this and I hope you have a lovely day.


	2. It's Too Early For This

Izaya can feel when Shizuo leaves the room. The air changes and suddenly everything feels much colder outside of the nest of blankets Shizuo left him under. He is trying to curl deeper into them and force himself to fall more fully asleep when he hears the door open again. He startles awake when he hears Shizuo striding over to him with heavy steps.

He was very quiet when he left earlier so Izaya doesn’t understand why he would be so loud now.

Then Shizuo is pulling the blanket up at the top to peer in at him and Izaya growls at the cold air he’s letting into his nest. Shizuo reaches further in and as soon as Izaya sees his fingers in front of his face he bites down. His teeth sink deeper than he means for them to and he gets a mouth full of the oddness of Shizuo's blood. He retracts his teeth at the sound of the other hissing above him and swallows quickly to make it easier to pay attention to what Shizuo is doing rather than the power he can feel pooling in his chest.

Shizuo pulls his hand away and Izaya is left alone in the dark under the blankets for a long moment. He can hear him breathing and he’s curious what he looks like right now, but he isn’t so curious that he’s going to risk poking his head out into the cold.

He doesn’t have a choice when Shizuo pulls the blanket down off of his head and glares at him. His face is a deeper shade of red than Izaya has seen it before and he’s concerned that he has burned himself on something, but he doesn’t get the chance to ask before Shizuo is growling questions at him.

“Are you keeping me from going to class? Why wasn’t I able to leave the room just now?”

Izaya stares at him in confusion and then he’s distracted by the dark shade of red on his cheeks again, “Why is your face so red, Shizu-chan?”

“Don’t call me that. Answer the question. Why can’t I go to class, Izaya?”

Izaya shrugs like he’s seen Shizuo do when he doesn’t know the answer to something, “Why are you asking me?”

Shizuo sighs and shoves his hair back with the hand Izaya bit. He can see the grooves from his teeth and is surprised to see no blood despite the lingering taste of it on his tongue. “When I walked out the door there was something blocking me. Are you using magic or something to keep me here? I have class, Izaya. I can’t stay here as a heat source.”

Izaya narrows his eyes at him, “I’m not that desperate for your body heat, Shizu-chan. I wouldn’t waste my energy on forcing you to stay here.”

He can hear Shizuo’s jaw clench in irritation and he can feel waves of something akin to anger pouring off of him, but then he takes a breath and forces his shoulders to relax. “Fine. We’ll have to ask Celty about that later too then. You need to get up and come with me. Maybe you can figure out how to move whatever it is.”

“But I’m tired.” Izaya whines at him and rolls over, fully intending to remain here and let Shizuo deal with this problem on his own, but the blankets are unraveled and taken away completely.

“I’m serious.” Shizuo announces, “I have class and you’re coming with me since you apparently have to act like a child even when I’m asking you for help.”

Izaya glares at the other and his not-quite human essence as he digs through the closet for yet more clothes for Izaya to wear, grumbling about needing to get something that will actually fit the tiny demon. Izaya hisses at him and wraps his arms around his legs, “I am not that small. I’m actually tall for a demon.”

This seems to throw Shizuo off and he turns around to stare at him with his mouth open, “You’re-- _how_ are other demons smaller than _that_?” He points at Izaya and Izaya glowers harder at him, not appreciating this conversation at all, “Aren’t you supposed to be intimidating?”

“It’s not height that makes one intimidating, Shizu-chan.” Izaya announces and pulls one of the pillows to his chest in an attempt to find warmth from any lingering essence Shizuo left there earlier. It isn’t very helpful. “You thought I was Lu when you summoned me, so I don’t want to hear an excuse from you about how _unintimidating_ I am.”

“I wasn’t intimidated by _you_. It was the fact that a demon had just appeared out of nowhere after I’d finished reading about Lucifer for an entire week. Will you be quiet for five minutes? We really need to go or I’ll be late.”

Izaya rolls onto his back and stares up at the ceiling until Shizuo throws pants at his face. He growls at him and yanks the material away so he can properly glare at the not-quite human. “What is so important about this ‘class’ that you can’t miss it? Why must it be so early in the morning? Is this some form of torture for young humans?”

“Feels like it.” Shizuo grumbles under his breath and pulls a blue shirt off of the thing holding it and he throws it at him, “Get dressed. Please.” He doesn’t look over at him and Izaya narrows his eyes at him, but doesn’t say anything because he at least made an attempt at being polite.

The entire time he’s fighting with getting the clothes on his body he can feel increasing levels of anxiety coming off of Shizuo and it is almost suffocating. The only thing keeping it from being completely overwhelming is the comfort of Shizuo’s actual, physical presence.

Izaya thinks that’s because of the fact that Shizuo is his source of warmth, but there is also something about his essence itself that feels safe to him.

He’s still hissing at the socks he’s been trying to wrestle onto his feet when Shizuo kneels down in front of him to help. He doesn’t know why Shizuo didn’t help him put the shirt and pants on if he wanted this to be quick, but he still doesn’t say anything and the other remains quiet as well except for the occasional request for Izaya to move in a certain way.

Time here is weird. Shizuo tried to explain it to him and it still makes almost no sense to him. He’s tried counting in the way the not-quite human has described, but the increments are what he doesn’t understand. Though with as short a lifespan as humans have he supposes the system works better for them than it ever will for him.

Shizuo keeps looking at the round thing on the wall that he says keeps track of time and Izaya can tell he feels rushed. He almost feels like his skin is burning with the tension Shizuo is letting off at the delay when they finally leave the room. The eyes of other humans are on them as they pass through the hallway, but he doesn’t bother wasting time looking at them when Shizuo is setting off at a quick pace, apparently forgetting about the supposed wall he had hit on his way out of the room earlier.

“Shizu-chan.” Izaya says when Shizuo doesn’t slow down or look back to make sure Izaya is still with him. Shizuo hums at him and Izaya glares at his back, feeling irritation at the blatant disregard for the attention he deserves, “Shizu-chan.” Izaya says more forcefully and Shizuo turns his head to shoot him a curious glance, “Can you walk slower?”

Shizuo blinks himself out of whatever intense focus he had and slows to match his pace with Izaya’s, “Sorry. I’m just anxious.”

“Yes, that much was apparent. How long does it take to get there?”

“A few minutes, not long.”

“Why are you so anxious about getting there then?”

Shizuo’s face begins to turn red again and Izaya frowns at him in concern about his skin getting too hot. He would like to touch him and cool him down, but he hasn’t risked any magic since he got here. He’d like to save the energy for when he needs it rather than using whatever he has on cooling Shizuo’s skin. “I have to explain your presence. I usually show up about ten minutes early so that I can have time to sketch before class, but now.” He gives Izaya a sideways look that he doesn’t understand and then looks forward again, “People are going to wonder if you’re the reason I’m late. Erika will probably spread rumors.” Shizuo’s face is very red and Izaya’s frown deepens at the mention of Erika’s name.

“What does Erika have to do with this class you have to attend?”

This time when Shizuo turns to look at him it’s entirely surprise on his face and the anxiety in his essence is smothered by amusement that Izaya doesn’t appreciate, “She’s in some of my classes.”

“You have more than one of these class things? What _are_ these class things? You never told me about this.”

Shizuo stops at a door and pulls it open for them, and when Izaya steps through and looks around there are a bunch of humans sitting at tables facing the front of the room. He frowns and stops walking to wait for Shizuo to explain. Shizuo steps up next to him and when he speaks his voice is a low murmur, “This is one of my classes. We sit at a table and listen to someone talk for two hours.” He points at one of the desks in the back of the room with no humans sitting at it, “That is where I sit.”

Izaya glances around the room at each of the humans giving them curious looks. All of them have a normal spectrum of human essences and none give off the slightest not-quite human feelings he gets from Shizuo. He turns back to look at Shizuo to ask a question, but the abrupt shift from greens and reds to the brilliant gold pouring off of Shizuo leaves him breathless in the same way it has since he met him.

Shizuo smiles reassuringly at him and then he feels the warmth that only Shizuo seems to possess against his arm. He looks down briefly at Shizuo’s fingers pressing into his sleeve and then he looks back up to meet his eyes. He’s still smiling and his eyes are a warm, deep gold behind the brown the humans can see and Izaya is mesmerized by the layers of color only visible to him.

Something about that makes him feel happy, but there is something he’s unfamiliar with beyond that happiness that he has no words for. He wants to ask Shizuo about it, but he knows from experience the not-quite human prefers the privacy of his room for such discussions, though he doesn’t know why.

Suddenly they’re moving forward and Izaya doesn’t remember exactly what he was supposed to be doing so he follows along, letting Shizuo lead him by the gentle hold he has on his arm.

Izaya remembers how impossible it was to break Shizuo’s casual grip on his leg a few nights ago and an unfamiliar warmth spreads over his face and shoulders, a feeling entirely different from the other one he was just confused by and yet another thing he wants to ask the other about, but he can’t find the words to voice protest let alone ask a question with Shizuo’s hand on his arm and his warmth clinging to his skin.

He sits when Shizuo prompts him to and as soon as his hand leaves his arm, just like every other time Shizuo has stopped touching him, he feels a rush of cold and then like something vital is missing, like something is draining from him, but he can’t place exactly what it is.

Izaya hopes that whoever Celty is she’ll be willing to help them, or at least explain their situation better because Shizuo has been entirely unhelpful and Izaya doesn’t remember anything he was told about summoning except for the taste of a human’s blood. He narrows his eyes and glares at the table in front of him when he remembers the taste of Shizuo’s blood.

His blood tastes wrong. Izaya has taken to referring to Shizuo as not-quite human within the space of his own head because of this. It isn’t unpleasant like he was half hoping and expecting it to be because iron isn’t very appetizing, but without the excess of iron Izaya doesn’t know what to feel about it. He’s aware that he was told drinking a human’s blood is a bad idea, but he doesn’t remember why or really care about the rules to begin with. And besides, Shizuo isn’t exactly human so surely taking his blood isn’t breaking any unspoken laws or he would’ve been warned against doing so.

Shizuo shifts beside him and Izaya frowns when he hears a voice speaking loudly from the front of the room. He looks up to see who is speaking, but is distracted by a splash of deep purple against the greens and reds he’d seen when they entered the room. The human this essence is attached to is what Shizuo has called a girl and she’s turned around in her seat staring at them. She has a brilliant smile on her face and Izaya narrows his eyes in suspicion at her. Then the loud human at the front of the room calls out and she turns to look at the other human, “Karisawa-san, what is so interesting that it’s keeping you from paying attention to my lecture?”

“Heiwajima-kun brought someone to class I’ve never seen before.”

Shizuo tenses up and Izaya can feel annoyance pouring off of him along with the repressed anger that always seems to be present regardless of what he does or what else he’s feeling. More than this, however, Izaya is confused about why the girl called Shizu-chan _Heiwajima-kun_ and why he feels like he’s heard her voice before. Izaya twists around to ask Shizuo immediately, but he’s looking forward with his eyebrows drawn together and his hands clasped together in an attempt to contain his irritation.

The human at the front of the room sounds tired when she speaks this time, “Would you like to introduce your friend, Heiwajima-san?”

It’s anxiety and something Izaya thinks Shizuo told him is embarrassment that he can feel lacing through Shizuo’s essence and then he stands up and Izaya looks up to try to meet his eyes when he doesn’t immediately say anything. “Izaya-kun is a...friend that I’ve been showing around. He’s thinking of joining the university so I thought I’d bring him to observe my classes this semester seeing as it’s my last year before graduation.”

The girl with the familiar voice giggles, “Is Izaya-kun your new roommate?”

Shizuo narrows his eyes at her and growls a warning, “Erika--”

“It’s nice to meet you Izaya-san. You can sit down now Heiwajima-san and please keep your comments to yourself for the remainder of my class period Karisawa-san. We don’t need another incident on our hands. I would prefer the desks remain intact as we have a lot to get done today and you all need to be able to take notes properly.” The loud human takes a breath and then Shizuo’s shoulders tense up again, “Does Izaya-san have a surname we can call him or does he prefer Izaya-san?”

Shizu-chan glances at Izaya nervously and he would find this amusing under different circumstances, but with how strong the not-quite human’s emotions are, and the constant tension of anger under the surface, he doesn’t think that’s a good idea. So he smiles at Shizuo and then faces forward toward the woman at the front of the room, “It’s Orihara.”

“Very well, it’s nice to meet you Orihara-san. I hope you enjoy your time here. Now if there aren’t any more interruptions I’ll continue with my lecture.”

After a short time of listening to the loud human talking, Izaya chooses to turn his attention back to Shizuo. He’s frowning in confusion at him, “Where did that name come from?”

Izaya shrugs like he’s seen Shizuo do before, “One of my sisters has been summoned and it’s the name she chose when prompted with the same question.”

“Why did she pick that specific name though?” Shizuo whispers and then continues without giving him a chance to answer his question, “And I thought you didn’t remember anything the other princes had told you about summoning. Why do you remember what your sisters told you if not them? Why were your sisters summoned?”

Izaya shrugs again and grins when Shizuo glares at the gesture, “I don’t know. Mairu and Kururi are princes too. And I don’t remember the rules for any of this. I remember stories. Those are more interesting than rules for something I had assumed would never happen to me.”

“Well that’s not helping us now.” Shizuo grumbles under his breath before he turns his attention back to the front of the room.

Unlike Shizuo, Izaya doesn’t bother trying to follow the loud human’s lecture. He glances out the window on the other side of the room for a while where leaves are falling to the earth beneath the trees. Then he slowly looks around the room at all the different essences, how they move depending on responses to those around them and the emotions they’re feeling. The most interesting one in the room aside from Shizuo’s or his own is that girl, Erika’s. Her name feels familiar to him and when he thinks about it for what feels like a long time he remembers that was what Shizuo had called that girl who’d called him Shizu-chan right after he summoned Izaya.

He stares at her for some time and then skips his attention back to Shizuo. He’s drawing in his notebook in the space beside where he has written down some of what the loud human has said.

He’s calmer than he was. Izaya can barely feel the anger that is usually present in his essence and he’s quite clearly absorbed in his task. He wonders if drawing and sketching are the things that keep him calm or if it’s the distraction of a task consuming enough to draw his attention that causes him to push away that anger and this is just what he has chosen to use rather than something else.

Shizuo’s expression is one of deep focus. His eyes are intent on his work and his lips are pressed together into a line of concentration. When Izaya can bring himself to look away from the other’s face and onto his sketch he isn’t paying much attention to what the other is making so much as the angle of his fingers.

For some reason sitting so close to Shizuo today is more distracting than usual. It’s not just his essence and his emotions that are absorbing all of Izaya’s attention this time.

It’s his hands.

Izaya’s never been particularly fond of hands so he doesn’t understand the appeal of Shizuo’s. He supposes that it has something to do with the size of them, but all of him is big so that doesn’t really explain it.

He has shown a capability of using them for many different tasks, but then so have the humans he’s watched on occasion.

For the small amount of time his hands have been on Izaya’s skin they’ve felt rough, but the warmth overcame any possible discomfort from that. But all of Shizuo is warm, so that also doesn’t explain it.

Izaya sighs in frustration and sits forward so that he can lean against his arms and watch Shizuo draw from a more comfortable position. He has been watching for a long time before it hits him that Shizuo is sketching his wings.

Izaya’s eyes go wide and he leans in further because he has never seen his wings from that angle before. He’s been aching to stretch them for most of the morning, but he knows that is a bad idea because Shizuo told him the humans wouldn’t respond positively to that. He has tried to think of an instance where it is acceptable and the only thing he can think of is when Shizuo takes him back to his room, where it’s just the two of them and human eyes aren’t a problem Izaya has to worry about.

In the sketch Shizuo is working on Izaya is facing away from him, his wings unfurled but not expanded, and it looks like he’s glancing back over his shoulder to look at his wings or possibly at Shizuo himself. He doesn’t remember an instance where the other has seen his wings spread even that wide, but it seems like a fairly detailed and similar pair to his own.

Shizuo doesn’t seem to notice him watching like he did the last time he was sketching Izaya. He still doesn’t understand why he hid the other one. It looked very well done, in Izaya’s opinion. But he doesn’t pretend to understand Shizuo or his thought processes so he hasn’t asked about it yet.

When Shizuo looks up this time it’s to focus his attention at the front of the room. Izaya feels a slight touch of annoyance at this. but ignores it and looks at the loud human as well and tries to focus on what she is saying.

“As you all know already, your incubus assignment is due at the end of the semester and I have given you plenty of time to have researched this subject.” Shizuo tenses up sharply beside him and Izaya glances at him to see what looks like embarrassment all across his face and lacing through his essence. He doesn’t look down or away from the woman so Izaya turns his attention back to her again. “If anyone would like to share what progress they have made I will gladly give you my attention. If not, you are dismissed.”

The entire room goes silent with this announcement. Almost every single person shrinks in on themselves with either embarrassment or anxiety and Izaya has never felt so separate from a room of humans as he does right now. Shizuo is doing only marginally better than the others, having at least had the capacity to realize he needed to put his notebook into the bag thing he’s carrying around with him today.

Briefly he wonders if that is a form of torture that the humans have to go through along with sitting in a small space in uncomfortable positions for long periods of time while they listen to an older, louder human speak to them about some topic Izaya has no interest in. The word incubus interests him more than a small amount, however, and the loud human must sense his interest because she looks right at him and asks, “Orihara-san, has Heiwajima-san explained this assignment to you?”

The air all along Izaya’s right side starts to burn and he turns to look at Shizuo while responding to her question so that he can see what exactly is causing the not-quite human to glow hotter than usual. “He told me that he has to fill in a notebook and that he has a specific assignment about a demon, but he hasn’t told me anything about what an incubus is.”

Shizuo looks absolutely furious and terrified at the same time and Izaya wants to ease that expression because it does not look good on him at all, but the woman starts to laugh and his face falls into confusion instead. “I guess you have some more homework then, Heiwajima-san. And who knows, maybe your friend will be able to help you. You’re dismissed.”

He’s being tugged out of his seat and after Shizuo almost before he can process what she has said. He doesn’t let go of Izaya’s sleeve even after they’re out of the room and halfway down the hallway. Izaya tugs on his arm when they’re almost at the door leading outside into the cold, “I can walk on my own Shizu-chan.”

Shizuo doesn’t respond at first and he doesn’t drop the hand still holding onto Izaya, but he does stop walking. Izaya stares down at the hand on his arm and tries to pry Shizuo’s fingers open, but it does absolutely nothing. If Shizuo notices what he’s doing, Izaya can’t tell. His grip doesn’t give way at all and when Izaya huffs annoyance and glares up at Shizuo’s face he can see that he’s not paying attention to him. He’s staring at the black thing in his hand that Izaya has already begun to find annoying because it randomly makes sound and the not-quite human stares at it every time that happens.

“Shizuo.” Izaya says more seriously and that drags the other’s attention down to him, “What are you doing?”

“Sorry.” he puts the thing back in one of the holes he calls pockets, “Celty texted me. She said she wants to meet up in the library.”

“Good, then we can get this sorted out and I can go home. Let’s go.” Izaya tries to take a step forward to go outside, but Shizuo hasn’t let go of his arm so he can’t. “Shizu-chan.” he growls under his breath and glances back over his shoulder only to see Shizuo smirking at him.

“That isn’t the way to the library.”

“Then why are we here?”

Shizuo turns around and loosens his hold on Izaya’s arm until he’s just leading him and Izaya could pull away if he wanted to, “I was going to take you back to the room so that I could make lunch for us, but that can wait until after we see Celty. I’ll have one more class a bit later and then I have to work, so we’ll need to bring something for you to do while I’m there.”

“I can look through your drawings again. You have new ones I haven’t seen in other notebooks.”

“Or we could bring a blanket and you could take a nap on one of the sofas. The cafe isn’t busy in the evenings and no one will bother you there.”

“I don’t need a _nap_.” Izaya growls in defiance. And then after a few steps of silence, “What is a nap?”

Shizuo outright laughs at this and Izaya glares at him because he does not understand why this is funny and he certainly doesn’t deserve to be laughed at when asking a question. When Shizuo lets out a long exhale and turns to look at him his essence is glowing brighter behind his eyes, “You’re funny.”

“Why am I funny?” Izaya is genuinely perplexed by this accusation, “Do I know what these are already?” He tries to think back to all of the things Shizuo has told him, but he remembers nothing about a nap.

“I’d imagine you do since I’ve seen you take at least two since I met you.” Shizuo keeps smiling even when he looks away to watch where they’re going, “It’s when you fall asleep for short periods of time. Like what you do on the bed or the couch in my room.”

“Isn’t that just sleeping?”

Shizuo lets out a short laugh again and Izaya sighs in annoyance and stops looking at the not-quite human because his enjoyment over this conversation is making him almost too bright to look at.

“Nap is just a word.” Shizuo’s voice is lower now and there are a lot more humans crowding around them, “The library is at the end of this hallway. This is a transition period so there are a lot of students around right now. Sorry if you’re being crowded.”

Izaya doesn’t respond. He’s overwhelmed by the number of humans and essence colors around him and trying to hold on to Shizuo so that he doesn’t lose him to the surge of bodies. Shizuo’s hand is still on his sleeve, but it doesn’t feel like enough support to get him through this.

He latches onto Shizuo with both hands and ducks further behind him to use him as a shield. It seems to work better than walking alongside him did and they reach the end of the hallway without anyone knocking Izaya over.

The room they go in is filled with shelves and books and it’s very quiet. He doesn’t dare say anything to the other to ask him why this room is set up this way until they’re in an area that feels less suffocatingly silent.

Shizuo shows something to a person at a table and asks them if they know where Celty is and they’re directed into a back room with a door. It’s smaller and colder than the large room and there are chairs around a table.

Sitting at the table are two people.

One of them is wearing something reflective on his face that he thinks Shizuo has called glasses. He also has brown hair that flares out a bit and reminds Izaya of feathers and his essence is a bright orange that’s hard to focus on. In direct contrast, the person next to him has lighter, longer hair and her essence is a smokey grey that immediately strikes him as unnatural.

He’s heard of this before and he can feel the power surrounding her. Even before she meets his eyes he’s clawing at Shizuo’s arm and hiding behind him to use him as a shield again, only this time it’s a more serious matter. When Shizuo doesn’t respond to the clawing he starts hissing very lowly.

He doesn’t stop hissing until he feels Shizuo’s hand wrap around one of his, “Izaya, this is Celty.”

Instead of the higher pitched voice he has started to associate with most girls, he hears a deeper tone that he thinks is coming from the boy next to her. “Shizuo-kun you’re so cruel to never introduce me. You wouldn’t even know Celty if not for me, can’t you be a bit more inclusive?”

Izaya can feel Shizuo’s sigh and knows he’s annoyed even without looking, “And that’s Shinra. I’ve known him for a long time so I rarely think to introduce him. Sorry Shinra. But I didn’t expect you to be here. This was just supposed to be Celty and us.”

“I had a free period! I have to spend as much time with my precious Celty as I can.” He hears something move and then Shinra is complaining about Celty punching him and Shizuo chuckles.

It sounds deeper and feels more like a growl from this close up. And then it stops and he’s being coaxed forward. He digs his claws in deeper to Shizuo’s arm, but follows after him anyway because he doesn’t think he could find his way back to his room if he tried.

Celty is radiating danger and Izaya doesn’t like the feeling of being so close to her. But Shizuo seems unconcerned and he said she’s willing to help them, so when he asks him to sit in a chair he grits his teeth and listens.

Celty is staring at him with an expression of disbelief and then she starts frantically moving her hands and fingers. Izaya is curious what it means and why she looks so upset, but Shizuo’s response is a smile and, “I know. That’s kinda what I wanted to talk to you about.”

She pauses and glances over at Izaya again. Her eyes burn through him and he feels exposed in a way he hasn’t before and then she’s looking back at Shizuo and moving her hands at a more reasonable speed. When she’s finished Shizuo looks over at Izaya with a curious expression. “Are you alright with reading what Celty says off of her pda screen or would you like me to tell you instead?”

Izaya stares at him for a moment and then squints at the pda she shows to him. “I can read it.”

When he looks back at Celty’s face while she types her expression isn’t as twisted into unhappiness as it was. She seems to be focusing on what she’s doing. She looks back up and meets his eyes again and when she holds the pda out for him to read it all it says is, _You’re a demon._

Izaya narrows his eyes at her and then looks to Shizuo in question. He shrugs, “I didn’t tell her that beforehand. She knows things.”

He frowns and looks back at Celty, “You know what I am. But how? What are you? You don’t look human to me.”

She smiles at this and pulls her pda back to type quickly in response, _I am human. It’s not really an interesting story, but I am also a witch and that’s probably what you’re sensing. Or seeing, I suppose._ Izaya doesn’t respond to this so she types more and then shows it to him, _Basically I’m a human that can use something similar to magic, though that’s a highly simplified explanation of what I do. That’s not why we’re here though, is it?_ Her expression grows more serious and she looks at Shizuo.

“I wanted to ask you if there is any way to get him home.” Shizuo explains and Izaya sits up a bit taller to show his interest in the conversation, “Or if you know anything about summoning demons at all since neither of us has been able to figure anything out on our own so far.” He pauses and frowns at his hands, “Well, actually there was something odd this morning. When I left to go to class I wasn’t able to. At first, I thought it might have been Izaya keeping me from leaving because he was cold, but he was asleep when I came back into the room. Maybe we could start with that?”

Celty raises her eyebrows and types and retypes for a short time before she shows them her screen again, _That sounds like a distance limit to me. How did you manage to summon him? That usually has a lot to do with a reversal of the contract._

“Contract? I didn’t see a contract. And...um,” Shizuo’s face is growing red again and Izaya still doesn’t understand what that is, “I’m not really sure how I summoned him.”

Izaya rolls his eyes and Celty looks completely confused as she types out a response to this, _What do you mean you aren’t sure how you summoned him? That takes a lot of preparation, especially for a high level demon. It shouldn’t have been possible for you to summon a prince at all, in fact._

Izaya nods and smirks at Shizuo with this second account of what he himself had said to Shizuo that first night. “I told him that. He shouldn’t have been able to summon me, specifically, because greed doesn’t suit him at all. I have found almost nothing like it in my time with him thus far.”

Celty is staring at him with wide eyes when he looks at her again. It takes her even longer to type out what she wants to say this time and when Izaya reads it it’s very clear why. _You’re Greed? Shizuo shouldn’t have been able to bring you here._ She brings the pda back to herself and types frantically again before showing it to Shizuo, _How on earth did you accomplish this?? Where were you when you summoned him? Did you get hurt? Are you alright?_

Her tone comes across as panicked and Izaya giggles while Shizuo reads over it and his face starts to nearly glow with how red and warm it is. “I’m fine. It was just a paper cut and a tiny bit of blood. I honestly don’t know what happened. There was smoke and then suddenly Izaya was in my lap and. I know that’s supposed to be impossible.” He shakes his head and pushes his hair back out of his face, completely avoiding eye contact with Izaya, “Look, I know this is messed up and really hard to believe, but that is all that happened.”

Celty doesn’t respond and Shinra is staring between the two of them with wide eyes. Shizuo sighs and his shoulders fall in defeat, “I want to help him get back home, Celty.”

They’re all quiet for a long time before Celty starts typing. What she explains to them is how demonic contracts work and that without knowing the proper ritual and circle she won’t be able to help Izaya get back home.

It’s up to the two of them to figure that part out.

But she can help them learn various things about the contract binding them together the longer Izaya is around. The distance limit is apparently only one of many things that the contract can do.

As she’s explaining the complexities of this, along with some history that she knows about the contracts and the demons that originally were involved in making them, Izaya starts to think of ways that he might be able to break the contract on his own. He knows that his power grows when he takes blood from Shizuo, he felt that clearly enough this morning, but he doesn’t feel any of that power right now and he has no idea where it went or when it disappeared.

He’s aware that this plan is going to take time and that he’s going to have to build up a level of trust with Shizuo in order for it to work out smoothly, but he’s impatient. If it weren’t so cold here he might enjoy it more, but without constant contact with Shizuo that is a huge problem.

Izaya decides that when the other is tired after work he’ll bring this up. Until then he’ll cling to him with the excuse of trying to keep up with his ridiculously long strides.

He really does walk too fast. Izaya doesn’t know how he does it. He’s always been very fast himself, but seeing the not-quite human walk around and away from him so quickly gives him the impression that maybe the demons he’s had around him are actually very slow.

After Celty finishes what she has to tell them and Shizuo stops asking questions, they walk back to Shizuo’s room. As soon as the door is closed Izaya is yanking his shirt up and over his head. He lets his wings materialize and stretches them like he’s been craving to do all morning.

When he’s comfortably settled on the bed and wrapped up in the blankets with his wings spread out he looks over his shoulder to see what Shizuo is doing. He’s not even looking at him. He’s busy making something that smells very good. He’s tempted to hover over the other’s shoulder and watch, but he doesn’t want to waste his energy so he’ll just wait and let Shizuo serve him the food when it’s finished.

Izaya focuses on the movement of his wings and makes sure to stretch each individual muscle before he lets them relax against his back. It’s a fulfilling sensation after a few days of not having them at all. The lack of their weight on his back at first was disorienting and not having his tail to help with his balance was particularly difficult, but the gravity here is easy to get used to.

One thing that doesn’t bother him at all is hiding his horns. He can freely run his fingers through his hair if he wishes and he had previously been unaware of exactly how soft his hair is. He looks over at Shizuo’s hair and wonders what it feels like in comparison. Surely it feels different. It’s a different color and he has seen the way it curls after the not-quite human showers.

He has no idea how he’s ever able to tame it.

Perhaps it’s something on his hands. Izaya has seen him push it out of his eyes dozens of times already.

He’s still staring at Shizuo’s hair when he brings food over to him. It tastes exactly as good as it smells and Izaya is curious if the other has a lot of experience with these things or if he’s naturally good at them.

Shizuo must catch him staring at him with his mouth full because he raises an eyebrow at him. His food is gone and he’s replaced it with a small container that Izaya has never seen before. It smells sweet.

Izaya watches him while he eats whatever that is, expecting that to be gone even faster than the lunch was. But Shizuo eats it very slowly and seems transfixed by it. He doesn’t move when Izaya stands up and drags the blankets along with him, and he still doesn’t move when Izaya settles right next to him.

Whatever it is he’s eating doesn’t look like a solid exactly and it’s a very light color. When Izaya takes a deeper inhale to see if he can pick up anything other than sweetness from it there is something else there, but he doesn’t have a word for what it smells like.

After a while of watching him eat the sweet thing he pokes his arm, “Shizu-chan? What is that?”

“Pudding.” Shizuo announces and shows no sign of elaborating what that is without being prompted to do so.

“What is pudding? It smells weird. What is the smell called?”

Shizuo gets a larger portion out of the container and offers it to Izaya, “Try it if you’re so curious.”

Izaya glares at it in suspicion, but everything else Shizuo has had him try has been good so he opens his mouth anyway.

It’s exactly as sweet as it smells. It’s almost overwhelming, but whatever flavor it is that he could smell aside from the sweet part is very good.

Shizuo isn’t paying attention to his reaction to it at all. He’s gone back to eating tiny bits of it with his eyes closed like he’s trying to sleep while eating. Izaya inches closer and presses his knees against Shizuo’s leg and still doesn’t receive a response from him. But all he really wants right now is warmth and if he would finish the pudding then Izaya could sit in his lap and curl up like he usually does.

“I’m cold.” He whines.

This brings a tiny bit of tension to the other’s lips and he opens his eyes to stare down at the pudding and when he finally takes a slightly larger portion of it out to eat Izaya smiles triumphantly.

If he didn’t know any better he’d think Shizuo was taking his time on purpose.

It takes him an enormous amount of time to finish eating the pudding, but as soon as he does Izaya climbs into his lap and tugs the blankets up around himself. Shizuo gives him an odd look and then stares over his shoulder at his wings. Izaya catches the spark of curiosity in his essence, but doesn’t address it yet. He’s too busy expressing his enjoyment of being warm and having the chance to rest.

His purring seems to calm the other and he smiles to himself about this when he notices that Shizuo is starting to get sleepy.

Izaya startles him when he puts his hands on his chest and presses down with one palm and then the other, but he doesn’t move and watches him for a while before he brings one of his hands up to touch Izaya’s shoulder. “Are you kneading on me?”

He can feel his eyebrows furrow in confusion, “What is kneading?”

Shizuo touches his hand, “What you’re doing with your hands is called kneading. It’s something cats do.”

“And a cat is the small soft creature you showed me outside?”

“Yes. The purring noise you do when you’re happy sometimes is also something cats do.”

Izaya squints at him, “Are you trying to tell me you think I’m a cat?”

Shizuo chuckles and his chest rumbles with it under Izaya’s palms, “I’m not, no. I know you’re not a cat. You just do things that make me think of them. Your tail kind of does too. Especially when it’s waving around like that.” He motions behind him and Izaya turns to look at what he’s talking about.

He didn’t consciously decide to materializing his tail, but there it is. It feels good to let his wings and tail move. He’s sure his balance will be hard to catch again when they have to leave later, but for now he lets himself enjoy it and meets Shizuo’s eyes with a grin because he knows the not-quite human likes to stare at his wings and his tail. He’s already drawn them twice and since drawing is important to him he’s pretty sure that’s a significant thing.

While they’re in the room and Izaya is in Shizuo’s lap staying warm, he chooses to ask the questions he has accumulated over the day. He refuses to answer the question about why his face gets red, but he readily explains why his ‘teacher’ and Erika were calling him different things.

Shizuo also talks about his incubus assignment, though he’s vague on what they look like. The concept of them sounds familiar to Izaya, but he doesn’t tell Shizuo anything because he isn’t certain he knows what they are.

When the black thing--Shizuo tells him it’s a cell phone--starts making a loud sound at them Shizuo tells him they need to get ready to leave for his next class. Putting his wings and tail away is exactly as unpleasant as it was the first time, but regaining his balance afterward and putting Shizuo’s shirt back on seems easier.

The next class passes faster than the first did. Izaya thinks this is because Shizuo actually talks to him and explains the lesson when he asks questions or looks confused. When they’re leaving is when the teacher asks who Izaya is and Shizuo tells him the same thing he told the woman.

They make a quick stop back at the room so that the other can change into his work clothes and then he insists that they both brush their teeth again. Just as they’re stepping out the door Shizuo pauses and turns around with an “Oh right” and reaches into the closet to pull out a smaller blanket than the two they’ve been using to sleep under, “I wanted to bring this for you in case you want to take a nap.”

Izaya raises an eyebrow but doesn’t tell him no because he will take absolutely any warmth he can get when Shizuo isn’t around for him to sit on top of.

And as adamant as he was earlier in the day that he wouldn’t be tired, he ends up sleeping through most of Shizuo’s shift. The only time he wakes up is when the other comes over with coffee and food during his break. It’s more food than he usually brings and when Izaya asks him why he explains that they’ll get back to the room late and he wants to take a shower and go to sleep instead of spending extra time awake making dinner.

On the way back to the room Izaya stares up at the sky and sees tiny bright lights everywhere. He stops walking and tugs on Shizuo’s arm to catch his attention and then points upward, “Shizu-chan, what are those?”

Shizuo looks up and Izaya can see him smiling, “Those are stars.”

Izaya is quiet for a moment and tests out the word on his tongue, then he looks around for something to stand on, “I want to touch them.” He can hear Shizuo protesting this as he tugs him after him toward a tree, but he ignores him. “Help me get up here.” He demands and holds his arms up like Shizuo has him do to help him put on his shirts.

He can hear Shizuo sigh behind him, but he picks him up and helps him keep his balance until he’s standing in the tree. He climbs up a bit higher and latches onto one of the upper branches when he starts to feel a slight pull back in Shizuo’s direction. The stars are still too far away for him to touch them and he tilts his head down to ask the other why they are so far up. When he sees how far above the ground and how far away Shizuo is he claws at the branch and hugs it tighter to himself. He did not expect not being able to use his wings to be this terrifying, but it is.

“Shizu-chan, I need help.” Izaya whispers and Shizuo raises both of his eyebrows at him in surprise.

And then he chuckles very quietly and reaches his hands up, “Hang off of that branch with your hands and drop down. I’ll catch you.”

Izaya stares at him in disbelief, “You want me to _fall_ out of the tree?”

Shizuo shakes his head, “No, I want you to hold on to that branch and let go so that I can catch you. You’ve already growled and hissed at me about how strong I am. Is it hard to trust that I’ll catch you?”

“A little bit. This might be your way at getting back at me for thinking I was keeping you from going to class today.” The wind blows and Izaya shivers and clings tighter to the branch, “You might drop me on purpose.”

Shizuo laughs again, louder this time, and a few humans turn their heads to look at them as they walk by on different pathways, “There are better ways to get back at you for something like that. And besides, Celty explained why that happened. I know it wasn’t you.” He reaches his arms up higher and motions toward himself, “Come on. It’ll be easier and faster this way than it would be for me to come up there and get you.”

Izaya stares at his hands and then at his eyes and then at his essence. He sees nothing that convinces him that the other is lying, so he lets his legs drop. Shizuo takes a step closer and beckons to him again. He grits his teeth and retracts his claws and his hands loosen and then he’s falling. He closes his eyes before he lets go so the sensation of Shizuo catching him is even more startling than it would have been if he’d known exactly where the other was.

When he opens his eyes Shizuo’s face is above his and he’s smiling at him, “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Izaya hisses and clings to Shizuo’s jacket and feels him shaking with repressed laughter, “I’m not doing that again.”

“Well if you’d listened to me instead of insisting then you would’ve known you couldn’t reach the stars.” There is still amusement in his voice and he hasn’t let go of Izaya so he presses his face into his chest to muffle a growl. He knows Shizuo is right, but he doesn’t know everything so he’d assumed the other might be wrong.

After Shizuo has stopped shaking with laughter and Izaya stops feeling like the world is frozen, he takes half a step back and looks up at the not-quite human’s face. “I want to take a bath now.”

Shizuo closes his eyes and his face scrunches up in another attempt at hiding what must be laughter because he shakes very slightly and then he’s smiling at Izaya again, “Alright. Let’s go back to the room now then. Try not to get distracted by anything else on the way there.”

Izaya isn’t able to convince Shizuo to take a bath with him this time, but he is very happy when he settles in the water to find it warm rather than cold. He can see steam coming off of the surface of it and it feels good to run water and Shizuo’s odd smelling soap through his hair and across his skin.

The sleep clothes that Shizuo has set out for him are overlarge and very soft and he’s even made sure to give him socks that he knows will be impossible to get on without the other’s help, but he appreciates the forethought.

Shizuo takes a shower that lasts a much shorter time than Izaya’s bath did while Izaya lies in the pile of blankets on the bed waiting for him. When he steps out of the bathroom he turns off the lights before climbing under the blankets behind Izaya and Izaya turns over to face him so that he can nuzzle into his chest for warmth. Shizuo doesn’t hide the growling laugh that he can feel shaking through his body and he ruffles his hair. Izaya hisses at him and claws at his skin just enough to make the point that he is unhappy with this until Shizuo stops and runs his fingers through his hair instead.

He’s beginning to fall asleep when he remembers what he’d meant to ask Shizuo earlier. “Shizu-chan.” Izaya mumbles.

Shizuo shifts and runs his fingers through his hair again, “Mm?”

Izaya’s thoughts start to unravel into distraction, “It’s really cold here.”

Shizuo laughs softly, “Yeah. You told me.”

“It’s less cold when you’re touching me.” He doesn’t respond to this, but he doesn’t stop playing with his hair either so Izaya continues with his question. “Can you--” Izaya yawns and his voice starts to grow quieter, but he keeps talking because he wants to finish this thought before he lets himself sleep, “try to keep me warm during the day too?”

Shizuo’s fingers stop threading through his hair and he can feel his heart speed up a bit, but he doesn’t know what that means and he’s not really paying attention. All he wants is to hear the other’s response so that he can sleep.

Shizuo takes a deep breath and then, “I’ll think of something. We can worry about this tomorrow morning. For now let’s just try to get some sleep.” He lets his fingers spread out through Izaya’s hair and Izaya can feel the warmth from his palm radiate outward.

The last thing he hears before he falls asleep is, “Goodnight Izaya,” in a gentle tone no one has ever used with him before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I know it's been a few months since I updated this, but it's not easy to find time to focus all of my attention on it and there are some things with writing Izaya's pov in this that are a bit challenging, but here it is anyway! My plan is to make future chapters for this quite a bit shorter. These first two have been longer because they're an introduction to the two perspectives and they give some background on how the two of them think and also show you exactly how much it is that Izaya doesn't quite understand yet. Regardless of the challenges with it though, it's really fun to write and I hope that my enjoyment for it comes across well. 
> 
> I'm aiming not to take so long with the next update, but I have no way of knowing how smoothly everything around me will go. Just know that I am working on it even if it is slow progress. Anyway! I hope all of you are doing well and that you're happy and comfortable.


	3. What If

He doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do. Izaya is still here and it’s getting very hard to remind himself that he won’t always be around, that he has to go back home at some point and he will no longer be able to see him or talk to him or touch him.

If they ever figure out how to get him home, that is. It feels like they’re biding their time waiting for something that will never happen. It's something that Shizuo constantly has on his mind. It makes him anxious.

Celty has spoken with Izaya almost daily for the past month and a half and neither has made progress on finding a way to get him home. All their conversations seem to be accomplishing is creating a friendship between the two of them. Which is a good thing, in Shizuo’s opinion. It gives Izaya someone else to ask questions and Shizuo gets a break from the demon’s constant attentiveness to everything he does.

After their initial hesitance toward each other, Izaya grew braver with Celty and she responded with the same level of friendliness Shizuo would expect from someone as nice as she is. Especially considering all the things he’s sure Shinra told her before they met and how easy it was to fall into a friendship with her despite that.

He still feels unworthy of Celty’s kindness, but he keeps that to himself. He doesn’t ever want to hurt her feelings or make her friendship seem like it’s any less important to him than it is.

Izaya on the other hand is a brilliant and fast learning individual and he hasn’t done anything during his time on earth that Shizuo thinks Celty would disapprove of, aside from the fairly regular bites he leaves on various parts of Shizuo’s body. He assumes that’s a demon thing and though having to spend a few moments cleaning away any blood he draws is inconvenient at times he hasn’t bothered to get angry with him about this. He has a hard time figuring out how to tell him not to do it when Izaya smiles up at him afterward, like they’re sharing a secret or something.

He’s cute, Shizuo will admit to that much.

Shizuo isn’t the only know that has noticed his appeal either. He always looks so radiant and cheerful, it’s no wonder people are drawn to him like magnets.

It’s either that or because he’s a demon, Shizuo’s not too clear on the strength of his lure on human beings yet. Izaya has made friends with just about everyone he has spoken to since he got here. He’s even friendly with Erika on the rare occasion they have a chance to speak outside of Shizuo’s classes. The only people that have questioned his sudden appearance are Tom and Kadota.

Kadota seems suspicious of Izaya and he’s badgered Shizuo with questions about where he met him and how long they’ve known each other and when he started staying in his dorm. Nothing has convinced him to stop side eying him, but he’s progressively relaxing from Erika and Walker’s insistence that Izaya isn’t going to bite Shizuo’s head off. Though personally he does wonder if that’s his goal sometimes because he bites him all the time now.

And for Tom’s part it mostly seems like he’s concerned about the amount of stress Shizuo is undertaking with having someone shadowing him all the time. And admittedly, he thinks picking up smoking again is what set Tom off that something is wrong. Shizuo hadn’t smoked in months and he was beginning to lose the urge for it just before Izaya landed, quite literally, in his lap.

Now that he’s picked it up again it’s easier to calm down between classes and after work so he doesn’t see harm in it, personally. Cigarettes are one of the few things that calm him down outside of his art, even if it’s more of a temporary fix and an expensive habit.

Izaya complained the first time he did it around him but has since remained silent and either watches him or ignores him completely while he smokes.

That’s another thing about Izaya that he’s gotten used to. The demon’s constant staring. It used to irritate him, but with the infrequency that he does it now it feels less like he’s being watched and more like Izaya’s admiring him. He’s caught Izaya staring at his mouth and his hands and even his shoulders on more than one occasion so he’s almost certain there’s more to his gaze than Shizuo initially thought there was.

Which in turn makes it that much harder to ignore.

It has become a habit to reach out his hand for Izaya to hold when they’re walking and every single time he pays attention to it he starts over-thinking. He _knows_ Izaya can pick up on his emotions somehow so of course it makes both of them tense and confused for what could be no reason if Shizuo would just calm down and enjoy the weather instead of thinking about the demon all the time.

Shizuo tries very hard to ignore a lot of impulses when it comes to Izaya, but he feels guilty about his own embarrassment and hesitation about something as simple as holding hands. He sees the way Izaya curls in on himself when he’s cold and he knows that touching him alleviates it, he just wishes it were easier to ignore how attracted he is to him and go back to doing everything out of necessity.

It was simple to begin with because he could focus on the urge to help and protect Izaya for what he’d assumed was going to be a short duration of time. But now he’s fully capable in human things and he’s showing an interest in Shizuo that is near impossible to ignore from proximity alone. Constantly having him in his lap, his shower, or his bed is not helping the situation at all and neither is his habit of stripping down naked or almost naked as soon as they’re back in the dorm room.

Shizuo shakes his head and looks up from his tablet to see Izaya’s back. He fell asleep over an hour ago and Shizuo has been taking advantage of that time to work more seriously on his project, but even still the only thing he’s managed to draw is Izaya. He’s almost given up on trying to draw something else for it because it’s a hopeless endeavor when Izaya is all he can think of. He just hopes that his teacher doesn’t recognize who it is or doesn’t care enough to call him out on it.

Looking back down at the newest attempt at a finalized version, it _is_ unclear that it’s Izaya.

Unless the viewer knows that it’s him.

His wings, horns, and tail are what Shizuo has spent the most time detailing, but his hair and hands are what’s giving him trouble. He wants it to be as close to a realistic depiction of Izaya as he can get it, but he’s trying to avoid asking Izaya if he can stare at him up close for an extended period of time.

The demon stirs and Shizuo saves his work so he can lock the tablet without Izaya seeing it. He doesn’t know why he is so protective over this particular thing when Izaya has already seen an entire notebook full of sketches of himself and all of the doodles Shizuo does during class as well, but he’s keeping it hidden anyway.

Izaya stretches his arms and only because his back is still turned Shizuo lets his eyes roam over the muscles moving in his shoulders and down under his wings. Everything about him is beautiful, especially the way he moves.

Seeing it is one thing, if he could touch him--

Izaya yawns and Shizuo clenches his jaw in annoyance at his thoughts once again. When the demon sits up and starts rubbing his eyes his tail sweeps out from under the blankets and hits Shizuo in the face.

Izaya startles and turns his head too quickly for Shizuo to look away and pretend he wasn’t staring. Izaya blinks, then goes back to rubbing his eyes, “Sorry, I didn’t know you were there.”

“It’s fine.” Shizuo mumbles and turns away from him to dig through his pocket for his cigarettes, “Not like you did it on purpose.”

“How long has it been? Did you finish what you were working on?” Izaya asks tiredly. Shizuo can tell he’s still partially asleep but he doesn’t comment on this fact. It’s the weekend, Izaya can rest all he wants to. He’s not going to interrupt the tiny bits of time he has free from distractions, especially this particular one.

Shizuo stands up and sits on the edge of his desk beside the window, “It’s only been a bit over an hour. I haven’t really made a lot of progress.”

Izaya settles back down under the blankets and twists around to stare at him. Even exhausted and half asleep he’s beautiful. It makes Shizuo irritable so he stops looking at him. The demon laughs under his breath at this obvious tell of his discomfort.

“Do you have something in mind for the project by now? It’s due soon, you know. Sensei will be disappointed if you don’t have anything to show her on monday.” His voice is a little rougher than usual but he still manages to sound teasing.

“I know that.” Shizuo growls quietly and yanks the window open. He loosens his grip on it when he hears it creak in protest. “I’ve made progress on it this whole time. I just didn’t have something I wanted to show her before now. And I’m still not feeling that great about it.”

Izaya doesn’t respond and Shizuo doesn’t say anything else. He can feel Izaya’s eyes on him when he lights a cigarette and tries his hardest to ignore him for the few minutes it will take to finish it. He hasn’t eaten enough today and he knows it’ll make him light headed, but it’s worth it as long as it calms him down.

He’s completely zoned out and about to bring his hand up to his mouth again when the cigarette between his fingers is pulled away. He blinks rapidly for a few seconds and is breathing in to protest against this just as Izaya throws a leg across his lap and settles there. Shizuo stares at his lips and the smirk laid there for a long moment before he frowns.

Izaya breathes out a puff of smoke and laughs at Shizuo for snatching the cigarette back and shoving him out of his lap. Instead of falling to the floor like Shizuo expects him to, Izaya hovers just in front of him. “That wasn’t very nice, Shizu-chan. I just wanted to try it.”

“You didn’t _ask_.” Shizuo announces and glares at the sound of Izaya’s laughter in answer to this.

“It wasn’t worth the taste anyway. I don’t know why you do that. It isn’t appealing. The smoke I’m used to breathing is significantly better than whatever that is.” Izaya brags, setting himself back on his feet and flicking his tail a few times in a show of irritation that isn’t present on his face.

Shizuo shakes his head and turns to stare out the window again. Izaya interrupts his next drag by stealing the cigarette away again and flying up to the ceiling, where he giggles tauntingly at Shizuo because he knows he can’t reach him there.

“You’re getting ashes everywhere, Izaya, give it _back_!” he knows raising his voice isn’t going to help. All it does is make the demon laugh harder while he tries not to look directly at him.

He really needs to start getting onto him about walking around the room naked all the time. The window is open. Anyone could see them if they’re paying attention and the thought of someone else seeing Izaya naked is not an appealing one.

And he’s supposed to be cold all the time when Shizuo isn’t touching him. Unless that was a lie, which it very well could’ve been if he hadn’t seen so much proof of it since he told him.

Even now he can hear his laugh trembling from the shivers wracking his frame. Having the window open with cold air flowing in probably isn’t helping. It would be closed right now if Izaya hadn’t interrupted him though so it’s his own fault.

“Izaya.” Shizuo growls and Izaya presses himself more firmly against the ceiling, “Give it back or I won’t shut it.”

Izaya hisses at him, “Shut it and I’ll give it back.”

“I don’t trust you.”

Izaya narrows his eyes at him, “I don’t trust you either.”

“You’re the demon prince, I have reason not to trust you.”

“Yeah? Well, I _am_ a prince so I don’t have to do as you say.” Izaya scoffs, “And you’re a human, you could be tricking me just as easily as I could be lying to you.”

Shizuo glares at him but he knows Izaya isn’t going to listen to him until he shuts the window. He knows it, but that doesn’t mean he has to do it immediately. Izaya can suffer the cold if he’s going to be a dick about it. “Fine. Guess you don’t care if I leave it open then. I was getting a bit too warm anyway.”

“I don’t care. Do whatever you want, Shizu-chan.” Izaya is grinning despite the obvious shiver running up his spine.

Shizuo grits his teeth in annoyance, “How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that before you finally understand that I hate it?”

Izaya’s tail flicks around, brushing hard against the wall to punctuate his displeasure, “Maybe I do it because you hate it. I am a demon afterall.”

“Why do you sound offended when I call you that? That’s what you are.”

Izaya shrugs, “I’m not offended. It’s just the connotations of it when you’re the one saying it.”

“Me, specifically? I know more about demons than almost anyone on this campus and I’m pretty sure I’m not the one with the worst opinion of them.”

“Yes. That’s precisely why you shouldn’t have such negative feelings on us.”

Shizuo is beginning to develop a headache and this conversation is not helping. He needs to eat. “What do you mean ‘us’? I’ve only met you and you’re a pain in my ass.”

Izaya is quiet for a long time and when Shizuo looks up to meet his eyes he finds disappointed and hurt, but only for a second and then it’s gone, replaced with an insincere grin. “Insulting me won’t get me to come down from here.”

Shizuo groans and shoves the window closed. The wood protests but thankfully nothing breaks. He’s turning back to glare at Izaya when Izaya drops down and blows smoke in his face, giggling all the while. Even after Shizuo covers his mouth with his hand it’s not enough to drown out the sound of his laughter.

Then Izaya licks his palm and Shizuo yanks his hand away, which only makes Izaya laugh harder. In one of the neighboring rooms someone knocks on the wall and Izaya quickly covers his mouth with both hands. Shizuo calls out an apology on the other’s behalf and then sighs, “You’re not very good at being quiet, you know that?”

Izaya quirks an eyebrow at him, “Is that a problem?”

He can feel himself starting to blush at the implication in what Izaya said so he turns away, making the excuse to himself that he’s just checking what time it is and not actually trying to avoid Izaya’s eyes. “We should go out somewhere. It’s been too long since I left campus and you haven’t at all since you got here.”

“Where are we going to go?”

He hears fabric rustling behind him and he hopes that it’s coming from Izaya getting dressed. “Just somewhere that isn’t here, really. There are some good restaurants downtown and some parks, though there aren’t many leaves left on the trees at this point so that might be pointless.”

There’s a pause and then, “Are you asking me on a date, Shizu-chan?”

Shizuo tenses up immediately, “No.”

“You hesitated.”

“No I didn’t.”

Izaya huffs and something brushes against the back of his neck, “It sounds like a date.”

“Well it’s not a date so shut up about it.”

“Sure. Whatever you say, Shizu-chan.” He can hear the smile in his voice, but he does stop talking.

They both remain silent until they’re in a taxi on their way into the city and even then it’s mostly about the things they pass that catch Izaya’s attention. Shizuo is starting to relax, thinking Izaya has forgotten or at least decided to stop teasing him for the time being, but then the demon smiles at him and he swears it looks more like flirting than it usually does.

He tries his hardest to ignore this, avoiding eye contact as much as possible and failing more than he should before they’ve even arrived at the restaurant. When they finally get there Izaya takes one look at the sign and raises an eyebrow, “More sushi?”

“This place is really good and I know the guys that own it.” Shizuo explains with a shrug and looks away. It’s the truth, though his original intention was to go somewhere nicer. If Izaya hadn’t accused him of taking him on a date they’d be on their way there instead.

Shizuo frowns to himself. It’s not a date. This is nothing like a date.

For once, Shizuo doesn’t reach for Izaya’s hand. It’s only a few feet for the other to have to walk unaided through the stinging autumn winds, he’s certain he’ll be fine. At the very least he doesn’t vocally complain. Pouting silently is a different matter.

Shizuo slides the door open and lets Izaya walk through first, deliberately looking at the wall to avoid eye contact. Once he steps through and closes the door behind him he sighs in relief. The restaurant is significantly warmer than it was outside, thankfully. But as he takes in how loud it is he realizes how crowded it is. A jovial and booming voice greets him before he’s gotten a chance to look around for any familiar or unwelcome faces. “Shizuo! So nice to see you! How are your studies?”

“Hey Simon. Nice to see you too. The teachers are kicking my ass.”

Simon smiles brightly and waves for him to follow, “That’s no good! You need sushi! Will cheer you up, yes? Come, follow me, bring friend.”

“He’s not my--” he stops himself, “Izaya has never been here before.”

“Oh, I see! Friend of Shizuo,” he beams a smile in Izaya’s direction, “I bring today’s special for you.” Simon leads them further back into the restaurant and stops, lifting the half curtains to allow Shizuo and Izaya to step inside to see the small table, “Sit here, is very busy. I will be back soon, with tea for Shizuo and friend.”

Shizuo shakes his head after the man disappears, “He’s usually more talkative. I expected him to ask about you, at least.”

“Well it is busy, Shizu-chan. We don’t want to overwhelm the man.” Izaya says as he settles himself on the far side of the table. He’s shaking just enough for Shizuo to make out across the table. He sighs and kicks his legs under the table near Izaya and waits for him to notice.

Simon comes back a moment later with a tray that has two steaming glasses of tea on top. Shizuo makes sure to ask for things he knows Izaya likes and across the table Izaya raises an eyebrow at him. After Simon disappears again a smirk cuts across Izaya’s face, “Do you not trust in Simon about today’s special? Or are you trying to be romantic and share your food with me?”

Shizuo frowns in confusion and exhausted annoyance, “We share food all the time, Izaya. This is no different.”

“Ah, I see. So is it always romantic then? Have you been trying to woo me the whole time I’ve been here?” He has never looked so evil and demonic as he does right now, and that’s without the addition of his horns.

“I’ve told you this isn’t a date.”

“That’s what you say, but it certainly feels like one.” Izaya spreads his hands out wide in a gesture to encompass the space they’re sharing, under the table his legs bump against Shizuo’s, “We’re very alone in such close quarters.”

He rolls his eyes, “Have you been talking to Erika behind my back?”

“What makes you ask such a thing?” Izaya grins. “It’s not just her, though she’s certainly more helpful than you are in answering questions about certain things.”

“What d’you mean it’s not just her? Who else?”

Izaya bites his lip in what looks like apprehension but Shizuo knows it’s not real, and then he shrugs, “I can’t tell you that. They’ll surely kill me if they find out I told you.”

Shizuo rubs his temples and takes a deep breath. He counts to ten in his head before releasing it. It doesn’t help much to calm him down. “Izaya, please. Just shut up for a few minutes.”

Izaya huffs at him, “Fine.”

Shizuo looks up in disbelief that the other is listening to him and finds him sipping calmly at the still steaming tea Simon left on the table for them. Sometimes he forgets that heat doesn’t bother Izaya either. It’s helpful for him instead of harmful, even. He’d imagine if Izaya stood in a fire he’d be completely comfortable, though he’d rather not test that thought.

The demon’s legs are a weight on his own that he cannot ignore but that he doesn’t want to focus too intensely on. At least he’s clothed, but the proximity doesn’t give him much else to do other than look at and feel Izaya. Even when he picks up his own glass and takes steady sips from it it’s hardly a distraction from the way Izaya’s staring at his every move.

It should make him unbearably uncomfortable but instead it’s just making him hyper aware of everything he’s doing. Every flex of his fingers, every shift of his shoulders, every press of his lips to the glass feels more weighted than usual. At one point Izaya is looking at him with distraction in his eyes while licking his lips. It’s a blessing when the silence is broken by Simon’s boisterous presence, but that doesn’t last long enough.

He’s left with over-hot tea, sushi, and a heavy silence between himself and Izaya that he doesn’t want to break. Luckily, Izaya doesn’t seem to care about the silence as he scarfs down the tuna Shizuo ordered and the salmon from what Simon brought for him.

Shizuo feels much better after he has finished what is left of his food and the tea. With the headache that was plaguing him earlier gone he’s left feeling guilty for his irritability. Izaya’s leaning contentedly against his palm and twisting his hair around one of his fingers. He seems distracted by something that isn’t Shizuo for once and remains silent through Shizuo paying for their meal and when they step outside into the cold he shivers violently.

Shizuo breathes out a sigh of resignation and holds out his hand, “Here.” Izaya stares up at him and then looks at his hand with suspicion, “I’m going to show you something.”

He waits for Izaya to take his hand and then he leads the way down the sidewalk. It’s getting dark so they don’t have much longer to wait until the city lights up but Shizuo would like to show Izaya central park at a time he knows it won’t be too crowded before they head back to campus.

It’s frigid when the wind blows and Izaya’s grip on his fingers tightens as if he’s afraid Shizuo would consider letting go. He squeezes back, gently, hoping it comes across as comforting.

When they’ve crossed the street in front of the park Shizuo slows down and tilts his head to look down at Izaya. His cheeks and nose are pink from the wind but he doesn’t look winded like he tends to if Shizuo is walking too fast. Maybe they’re adjusting to each other. “This park is what I wanted to show you. There’s a bunch of cats that live here and I know you like them.”

Izaya raises an eyebrow at him, “Did you think of this because I remind you of a cat? That’s not very romantic, you know.”

“Oh my _god_.” Shizuo groans, “I’m not trying to be romantic, Izaya. Will you stop that? I know you like cats and that’s why I brought you here. I don’t have ulterior motives. Friends do this kind of thing.”

“I thought we weren’t friends. Isn’t that what you were going to say to Simon?” Izaya says in a tone he’s sure is meant to come across as offhanded but there’s a slightly bitter undertone to it.

Shizuo sighs and shoves his free hand into his hair in frustration, “No. I’ve known Simon for a long time. I thought he meant...something else.” He pulls on Izaya’s hand and leads him further into the park toward a bench with a black and white cat curled up on it.

“What ‘something else’ would he have meant?” Izaya sits next to the cat and reaches his hand out for it to sniff his fingers, “Surely he wouldn’t assume anything just from that?”

“Probably not. I was just in a bad mood at the time.”

“Why?”

“Because you make me anxious.” Shizuo blurts, “I can’t explain it any differently and when you insist on calling this a date and continue to flirt with me like this it’s not helpful. I’m on edge and it bleeds into my interactions with other people.”

Izaya stares at him with a blank look on his face for a long moment before Shizuo turns away to stare at a cat playing with another’s tail, “I know you don’t mean it that way. That’s what makes it so frustrating. So please,” he looks sideways at Izaya and mumbles, pleadingly, “please stop.”

Izaya frowns at him and then looks away, down at the cat nuzzling against his thigh, “What if I do mean it that way? I’m not incapable of feeling emotion, Shizuo. I thought I’d made that clear enough to you but apparently you still think I’m blind or cruel.” he sounds hurt, his voice is wavering very slightly but then he clenches his teeth and glares at Shizuo, “I’m not blind and I’m not cruel. I might be a demon but I know what I’m doing and I know what I _want_.”

“I thought you wanted to go _home_. You told me that.” Shizuo insists.

Izaya shakes his head, “I want you to see me as a person, Shizuo, not as something you have to protect and certainly not as a burden.” he sounds angry now, “I understand what flirting means. Why do you think I do it?”

Shizuo refuses to continue looking at him, at the hurt laid bare across his face and in the tension of his fingers against his. “I can’t keep you here. You’ll have to go back at some point.”

“Is that what you’re afraid of?” Izaya hisses and his nails dig hard enough into Shizuo’s skin to draw blood but he doesn’t pull away, “That I’m going to leave you?”

“No. I’m not afraid of it. I know it.” Shizuo sighs, “This is not a conversation that I wanted to have with you tonight.”

Izaya huffs a disbelieving laugh, “When were you going to bring it up then? At what point was it going to be appropriate? Because it certainly wouldn’t be less--” Izaya cuts himself off and falls completely silent.

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re not or you wouldn’t have brought it up.”

“It’s my fault you’re here. If I’d been more careful then you’d still be--”

“I don’t _care_ whose fault it is. Do you really need me to spell it out for you? I _like_ it here with you.” Izaya yanks his hand away and pulls him closer by the collar of his jacket, “It’s cold and uncomfortable and dark, but it’s interesting and beautiful and _different_ from anything I’ve ever seen in my own dimension. There are humans everywhere in various states of living, rather than dead and burning in a pit of anguish, and you really think I want to go back? I _like it here_. I like being with you and petting cats and eating your stupid pudding when you won’t pay attention to me.” Izaya lets go of him and glares at him with bright red eyes, “I don’t care if I never go home so stop trying to pretend that you know that’s what I want.”

Even after Izaya turns away and is swarmed by at least a dozen cats Shizuo continues staring at him. Thinking back on it, it is pretty obvious that Izaya is happy here even though he’s always cold. They so rarely talk about Izaya’s dimension but Shizuo had assumed that was because Izaya didn’t want to talk about it in an attempt to put it out of his mind until they’re sure of a way back.

Celty told him Izaya is settling into a routine and has mentioned how much he talks about him to her, how happy he seems. Shizuo just didn’t want to believe it. Izaya deserves someone that won’t accidentally harm him if they’re not paying attention. Shizuo isn’t sure he believes everything he read in the book Celty gave him after what he’s learned from Izaya being here. If one thing isn’t true then it’s possible that there are more inaccuracies and he doesn’t want to test that on the durability of Izaya’s body.

But now that Izaya has outright stated that he wants to be here? It’s a bit harder to convince himself that it’s a bad idea to let himself like him. They _have_ gotten used to each other’s company and it’s easy to be around him, except when he’s being flirty but after this that probably won’t be a strain anymore.

Shizuo knows how smart the demon is, he’s seen enough evidence to prove it even if it wasn’t already clear in everything about him. He should have realized that _flirting_ isn’t a difficult concept for him, especially considering that Izaya has taken to sign language like he’s been learning it for months instead of weeks. He has picked up on every single thing he’s been told and remembered it as if he has perfect recall; which is entirely possible but he hasn’t exactly asked him about that.

And he’s also told Shizuo stories of how easily demons have fallen in love with humans in the past. There used to be hundreds of lesser demons wandering the earth for decades at a time just to be with that human. Some even started families with the humans and stayed for generations to protect them.

So the reason he finds it so hard to accept that Izaya understands what all this means for them and that’s why he’s directing it at Shizuo, specifically, has nothing to do with what Izaya has told him or even with Izaya himself.

What he said is true. Shizuo is afraid.

Admittedly, his reasons are really flimsy and would be just as flimsy if Izaya was human. He looks at the strands of Izaya’s hair that are sticking up from the wind, at the dark shades of pink along his ears and cheeks, and then down to his fingers working through the line of cats in an attempt to give all of them attention. It’s not working out very well and several of them are making disgruntled sounds, but Izaya is smiling softly down at them anyway.

Shizuo sighs and slides a few inches closer to where Izaya has retreated and reaches out slowly toward the length of his forearm, barely skimming it with his fingers to catch Izaya’s attention without saying anything. Izaya does look at him but he keeps his entire body facing away, toward the cats. When he speaks his voice is like ice, “What?”

Shizuo hesitates then settles on, “Are you cold?”

Izaya looks away from him, “Are you actually asking me that or are you asking for permission to help with it?”

“Both, sort of.” Shizuo can see how much he’s shivering, but he doesn’t want to touch him if he doesn’t want him to, “I’m sorry about what I said...and for not asking you what you wanted.” Izaya tilts his head so he can look at him from under the fall of his hair and Shizuo meets his eyes, “I was assuming based on what you’d said when you first got here and I shouldn’t have.”

Izaya huffs at him, “That kind of goes without saying, doesn’t it?”

Shizuo shrugs, “Maybe, but I thought you wanted an apology and I wanted to say it.”

They both fall silent again while Izaya looks at him consideringly. The sharpness and hurt is gone from his expression but Shizuo doubts that’s all the apologizing he’s going to need to do over the next week, at least.

Izaya grabs his hand and tugs it down toward the cats, “You brought me here because of them, didn’t you? At least pet some of them now that you’re not glaring at your hands.”

Shizuo rolls his eyes but does as he’s told. Between the two of them they’re able to placate most of them and after what feels like minutes Shizuo checks the time on his cell and it’s actually been about two hours that they’ve sat on this bench. “We need to get back to campus.”

Izaya frowns at him, “Can we come back?”

“Yeah, we can come back. Maybe next Friday?” Shizuo asks and Izaya nods his acquiescence.

The ride back to campus is quiet and Izaya sits close against Shizuo’s side with their fingers tightly linked, obviously trying to fight off the cold that has settled over them both but failing.

“We can take a shower when we get back to the room.” Shizuo offers in what he hopes is a casual tone even as his face flares into unnatural heat at the idea.

Izaya raises an eyebrow at him, “ _We_ can?”

Shizuo shrugs and chooses to stare out the window instead of into the knowing eyes of the demon at his side, “Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, the park they went to is Higashi-Ikebukuro Central Park. It is known as the cat park and an 'outdoor cat cafe' because of how many stray cats have congregated there. I did not know this before I started doing research on where Russia Sushi would be located if it actually existed and this is the closest park to it. I thought that was pretty cool so I wanted to include it. Also, cats have been associated with demons--whether to ward them away or as avatars for them--so I decided to have some fun with that and have them flock to Izaya. Another explanation is just that they know he really likes cats, which is a known phenomenon because cats have a really good sense for these things. 
> 
> Alright enough with rambling about that. I love cats, if this wasn't already obvious. Initially this was supposed to be a 'not-date' and end with them going back to campus afterward without that argument at the end, but because it fits with plot points in later chapters I think it's fine so I let Izaya yell at Shizuo as much as he wanted. It's not something I see enough of, really. Shizuo was being difficult and hardheaded so it was necessary. I apologize if anyone gets annoyed with either of them over this, but it had to happen for Shizuo to move past that. 
> 
> I won't always do time skips like this because I have a timeline in mind and I'd like to stick to that, but if it feels like nothing is happening aside from fluffy cute nonsense then I might move forward a bit. We'll see. I really like fluff. 
> 
> Aside from all of that, I'd really like to know what all of you are thinking so far. I haven't been responding to comments recently because I've not set aside the time for it yet, but I promise I read all of them and appreciate it very much. I hope you're all doing well!!


	4. Hot And Cold

Izaya has decided that he hates human courting methods. They don’t work. Shizuo is as unresponsive as he was before Izaya yelled at him, if a bit more red faced.

Blushing, that’s what it’s called.

Izaya chews on his bottom lip while he stares up at the ceiling in thought. Shizuo is in the shower, alone because he insisted that the _one_ shower they took together last week was just so they could warm up faster. Izaya glares at the tiny smudge of ash on the roof. He’d really been convinced Shizuo would move faster after that. He’d thought that the not-quite human had plans for that specific instance, even.

Apparently he’s giving him too much credit.

He can _see_ the longing when it pulses through Shizuo. Izaya doesn’t know why he tries to act like it’s not there. It doesn’t make it go away any faster because he ignores it.

Izaya huffs and rolls over onto his stomach, his tail stirs the air up in angry little waves as soon as he shoves the blanket down. He’s cold, but he’s always cold when Shizuo isn’t touching him so it’s not like the blanket is doing much for him anyway.

Not only that, he also likes the expression that crosses the other’s face when he sees any part of Izaya’s ass. It’s more than worth the added discomfort to feel Shizuo’s eyes lingering on him.

The shower cuts off and Izaya smirks to himself. If he were feeling a bit more antagonistic he’d reach for the not-quite human’s cigarettes. The last time he stole one though Shizuo hadn’t smoked for two whole days and barely spoke to him outside of necessity.

It takes Izaya three times counting to sixty until the bathroom door opens, and then it slams shut again after a brief pause.

Izaya grins.

He hears a muffled curse and then what he thinks is Shizuo leaning back against the door in frustration. Izaya laughs loudly at him and hears him growl in response but he still doesn’t come out. “You’ve seen my ass how many times now, Shizu-chan?”

“Shut up!”

“Why is it just my ass that makes you this flustered?” Izaya asks in an off-handed tone and Shizuo’s muffled angry groan reaches his ears a moment later, “I’ve got more to offer than just that, you know.”

“Oh my god, _Izaya_ , shut up.”

“You’re already so good at groaning my name.” Izaya continues, “It wouldn’t be much different if you’d just--”

The door slams open, “I’m not fucking you, knock that shit off.” He feels something soft land on his tail and he smirks, batting it away. There’s a wave of embarrassment that washes over him from Shizuo’s essence and he takes that as a victory, “And would you cover up your ass for once. I know you’re cold like that.”

“If you’d touch me then I wouldn’t be.” Izaya rolls onto his side and Shizuo averts his eyes. Izaya raises an eyebrow. He was actually staring at his ass that time.

“Can’t. I have to make dinner.”

It’s Izaya’s turn to glare, “We ate two hours ago. How are you hungry again?”

“Because I have to work and I won’t have a chance to make a proper meal after we get back.”

Izaya watches him as he walks over to the tiny kitchen and digs through the fridge. His shoulders hold Izaya’s attention more than the task he’s trying to accomplish, “What time do you get off?”

“Uh,” Shizuo pulls his phone out of his back pocket and after a moment of searching he says, “Around 9 probably. Why?”

Izaya lets his eyelids droop and waits for Shizuo to look over at him. When he does he sits up and licks his lips, “Can I watch?”

Shizuo’s eyebrows furrow in confusion, “You come with me to work all the time? You can watch if you really think it’s that interesting, I guess.”

When he returns his attention back to whatever it is he’s searching for, Izaya allows himself a moment of complete disbelief. He can see that Shizuo understood what he meant by that by the emotions swirling around in that golden essence of his, but he’d done such a good job of acting as if he didn’t that Izaya’s having a hard time reconciling the two.

How does he stay so _calm_?

Izaya is still marveling over this when Shizuo drops onto the mattress beside him and drapes an arm over his waist. “Stop thinkin’ so hard Izaya, you’ll give yourself a headache.”

“Oh, really?” Izaya huffs distractedly. Trying to focus through the sudden influx of warmth in his veins is like trying to eat a spoonful of peanut butter while speaking clearly. It’s just not going to happen no matter how hard he tries. He just wants to curl up and sleep with the warmth of Shizuo’s touch surrounding him.

But he can’t right now, and he knows that.

His tail slaps Shizuo square in the face when he sits up to reach for the blanket. Shizuo blinks at him in puzzled surprise, “Did you do that on purpose?”

“Maybe.” Izaya replies airily. Shizuo shakes his head and yanks the blanket out from under Izaya’s legs so he can pull it overtop of them. Izaya curls his leg around Shizuo’s and rubs his face into his neck, ignoring the chuckle this earns him.

“Is Celty supposed to come by the cafe today?” he asks with his lips pressed to the rush of Shizuo’s pulse. He wants to bite him and draw out a mouthful of that odd tasting blood, but he’ll wait until later when they get back. Bite marks, as it turns out, aren’t something most humans approve of seeing on the neck of the person serving their coffee.

He’d bite him somewhere less visible but Shizuo is less likely to allow that.

The mattress dips under them when Shizuo reaches for his phone again, presumably to text Celty to ask her. It’s not until Izaya relinquishes his hold on the not-quite human’s neck and turns to look that he sees what Shizuo is doing.

He grins viciously at his reflection in the screen, showing off his fangs just long enough for the camera to pick them up. He knows this will annoy Shizuo because he can’t send those to Celty without freaking her out.

As expected, the not-quite human huffs at him and drops his phone onto the mattress somewhere above them, “She’s in a class until late tonight. Shinra might stop by though. Tom’s working if you want to say hey to him after my shift is over.”

“After?”

“Yeah, he’s supposed to get there just before I get off.”

Izaya is silent for a full minute before Shizuo reaches up to tug on his hair. “Not like _that_. What the fuck is going on with you today.”

Izaya shrugs, “Dunno. Something’s burning over there, you know.”

“Fuck!” Shizuo shoots up, the blanket goes half with him and so does Izaya. He leaves them both in a crumpled heap on the floor with absolutely no hesitation, “Fuck you Izaya, why didn’t you say something sooner.”

“Fuck me?” Izaya asks, amused, “I’m not the one that put rice on the stove and left it there.”

Shizuo growls under his breath and after a brief pause he says, “Yes, fuck _you_ \--”

“ _Please_.” Izaya interrupts. He drops onto his back and stops fighting with the blanket. He knows Shizuo won’t take him up on the offer anyway, it’s not like he needs to be free of the damn fabric prison.

“Stop that.” Shizuo grumbles, “I’m saying fuck you for distracting me.”

“How was I distracting you? I was just laying there trying to be warm. You’re the one that decided that it was a good time for a nap.”

“I was not sleeping.” the not-quite human argues and Izaya tilts his head to watch the swirl of anger and frustration in his essence. Honestly, he could watch Shizuo’s emotional state all day and it’d still be more entertaining than anything he used to do in his own dimension. Shizuo is fascinating. “And now the rice is scorched at the bottom. That’s going to be impossible to clean.”

With the way his voice fades out at the end, Izaya knows he’s talking to himself.

After awhile of rotating between staring at Shizuo’s shoulders or hands and his essence, he turns away to look at the ceiling. It’s safer if he’s caught staring at that than adding to Shizuo’s growing irritation any more than he already has. There’s another smudge of ash on the ceiling right above him and he smirks at it. Shizuo really should learn to share, or at least let Izaya sit in his lap while he smokes, but he hasn’t caught onto that yet.

Shizuo sighs. Izaya laughs under his breath at him.

He doesn’t need food, if he didn’t like Shizuo and what he makes so much he wouldn’t waste his time on it. It does give him extra energy to store away for when he has to keep his body in the shape of a human, no matter how minute that cost might be, so he supposes it is actually useful.

Izaya hasn’t quite figured out why he can’t _do_ anything here aside from shifting his physical shape. And that’s limited enough as it is, just a human version of _himself_ and that’s it. It’s pretty useful for startling Shizuo with all the different parts of himself, but not really otherwise.

The only time he feels like he could use the power he’s used to is while he’s touching Shizuo and that’s when he doesn’t feel the need to. He’s not sure if the reason he feels that way is because somehow Shizuo is where his power is coming from--which is unlikely--or if it’s because he’s warm--also unlikely.

He must be frowning because when Shizuo comes into view he looks amused. He has a plate of food for both of them though so Izaya doesn’t comment on how rude it is to laugh at him like that.

“What did you make this time, aside from burned rice?” Izaya asks, letting his voice lilt upward to make it into a tease more than a question, though he is actually curious.

Shizuo doesn’t take the bait. He settles calmly on the floor beside him and lets his knee brush against Izaya’s back when the demon sits up to take the plate from him. Izaya appreciates not having to ask him to keep him warm like this. “Just chicken and broccoli since that’s about all I have left right now. I need to go out for groceries. We might have time before I have to work tomorrow to do that.”

Izaya really thinks Shizuo should be aiming for a career in making food. He’s very good at it and seems to enjoy it, but maybe being forced to do it on a daily basis for other people for an extended period of time would make it less enjoyable. The chicken tastes really good with the rice, though he wishes it was that fish he really likes instead. He thinks it’s called tuna or something. He doesn’t usually have to ask for it so he’s not made much of an effort to remember the name.

Humans have a name for everything, even the different parts of things. And they’re not always related. Sometimes things that are the same thing are called different things. It’s very confusing.

Izaya is finished eating before Shizuo is and wanders over to the sink to clean up after himself. He can feel Shizuo’s eyes on him, lingering in a few places before settling on his ass. If he weren’t in the middle of cleaning his plate with exceedingly cold water that he does not want to risk splashing on his chest, he’d arch his back to stick it out further. As it is he decides to flick his tail around behind him.

He wonders if Shizuo knows that’s usually on purpose. He’s not asked about it or said anything that makes Izaya think he knows, but Shizuo is a very quiet individual. He could very well know what the demon is up to.

Shizuo’s eyes linger on him as he searches through the closet and the dresser for an outfit to wear, digging in the sock and underwear drawer last for the softest things he can find. He chooses a purple sweater that he knows is thick enough to keep him insulated outside along with black leggings and a pair of dark jeans. He doesn’t care if he’s meant to only wear one of those, it’s warmer to have both and he’ll take all the help he can get when he has to spend the next 5 hours without Shizuo’s touch to depend on.

The undergarments he picks are matching, made of an almost-black fabric that reminds him of Shizuo’s sheets. The socks are thick and fluffy and slide nicely over the leggings and pants. The only thing he still struggles with is the laces of his boots.

Or at least that’s the impression he always gives to Shizuo. He prefers how the not-quite human ties the laces and it gives him the chance to watch his expression fall into distracted concentration. His essence is like a caress against any exposed skin on Izaya’s body, especially when he’s calm like this.

As soon as his boot laces are tied he’s up and ready to watch Shizuo button up his shirt and then his vest. Then he waits for him to choose which coat he wants Izaya to wear today--Izaya is a bad judge of this particular thing and he trusts Shizuo’s opinion--and his own, and as soon as that’s done they’re off.

The trek to the cafe is familiar by now, as is Shizuo’s hand holding his own. No one so much as glances at them anymore. It’s too cold for it to matter if they did, but Izaya watches all of them anyway.

The warmth of the cafe that still manages to _not_ be warm to him is a welcome reprieve when they reach it. The only real downside is that without the wind blowing on them Shizuo doesn’t feel the need to hold Izaya’s hand anymore.

He shivers as soon as his hand is released and he shoves it in his pocket.

Izaya’s in the middle of searching for any familiar faces that could keep him company for a while when he overhears Shizuo’s confused, “Tom-san?”

He stops what he’s doing and watches Shizuo beside him instead. His eyebrows are furrowed deeply. It makes Izaya want to sooth him but he doesn’t. From behind the counter there’s a friendly call of, “Hey man, what can I get for you?”

It’s Tom speaking but Izaya isn’t interested in watching him.

“I thought you were working later tonight?” Shizuo asks as he takes a few steps closer to the counter, Izaya trailing after him.

“No?” Tom sounds just as confused as Shizuo does, “I’ve got the evening. Karisawa’s got the later shift unless I looked at the schedule wrong just now.”

Shizuo is frowning very slightly, hands buried in his pockets to match the nervous tension in his shoulders. The faint flush of embarrassment tinging his cheeks is far more vivid in his essence. Izaya can feel it wrapping around him, choking him. He can only imagine what that feels like for the not-quite human. “Did I have today off then?”

Tom must nod because every ounce of confusion evaporates from Shizuo’s face. He’s no less tense or embarrassed for it though. “Today and tomorrow, actually. Did no one text you about the schedule changes?”

Shizuo shakes his head and takes half a step back toward the door, “No, but that’s alright.” Izaya follows after a moment’s distraction, too busy staring at the expression on his face to consciously move his feet. “I’ve got some errands to run in the area anyway.”

Shizuo pushes the door open with his back and waves at Tom, barely managing a proper goodbye before it closes behind them. They stand there for several moments before Shizuo glances over at him and reaches his hand out for Izaya to take. “I guess we have time to go grocery shopping today then.”

Izaya scoffs at him, “That’s not very romantic, Shizu-chan.”

Shizuo sighs but his essence lights up with interest. He doesn’t argue against him this time. “I have an idea for something we can do after, don’t worry.”

Izaya’s eyes widen in surprise, “Are you actually admitting to taking me on a date, Shizuo?”

“Shut up.” He’s blushing again. Izaya laughs at him.

Getting groceries is just as boring as the last time they did it. Fortunately, Izaya likes watching the look on Shizuo’s face while he’s searching for what he needs. He purses his lips a lot and is surprisingly patient with anyone that’s in the way of what he is looking for.

Occasionally he asks Izaya if he has anything in mind, then continues on if the demon doesn’t respond. So far Izaya’s only had to ask for fish, but he thinks Shizuo’s intention was to purchase some anyway. He just likes to let Izaya feel included.

If he had anything in particular that he was interested in aside from tuna then he’d make sure to tell him, but as it is he’s doing a great job of remembering what Izaya does and doesn’t like.

Izaya does have to make sure not to look too closely at any fish eyes while they’re in that area. For some reason they make him feel uncomfortable. Shizuo is very gracious about it and doesn’t say anything aside from a brief warning when they head in that direction.

He could easily choose to poke fun at Izaya for this, but he doesn’t and Izaya would properly thank him for that if he felt like acknowledging the need for it in the first place. Which he doesn’t. He’d prefer Shizuo wasn’t even aware of this particular thing but it is nice to have warning so he can avoid the unpleasant experience altogether.

They’re on their way back from the grocery store when Izaya notices tiny white things flying around in the wind. One lands on his cheek and it’s so cold he flinches away from it. Shizuo looks at him questioningly and Izaya glares at the air in front of him as he growls, “What is this stuff? It’s _cold_.” before Shizuo can open his mouth Izaya’s correcting himself before the not-quite human has a chance to comment on how he’s cold all the time anyway, “Colder than _usual_. It’s always cold here, but this is extremely cold.”

The longer he stands there the more of the tiny white cold things he sees. They’re attacking every uncovered section of skin on his body.

Shizuo chuckles under his breath and tugs gently on Izaya’s hand to coax him into walking forward again, “Those are flurries.” When Izaya gives him an annoyed look he continues, “It’s supposed to snow tonight but I doubt it’ll stick.”

He’s heard of snow but he’d assumed it was something the humans tell as a scare tactic, like those ridiculous ghost stories. Most of the humans at the college seemed weary of it at least. Shizuo doesn’t sound remotely upset but he’s different. He lives with a demon right now and his best friend is a witch, that kind of excuses him from normal expectations. That and he’s not _just_ human so surely there must be differences.

As Izaya considers this he trails along beside Shizuo, trying to ignore the assault of ice hitting him in the face and anywhere else not covered by clothing. He’s a bit more appreciative of clothes than he was when he arrived here a few months ago.

The hand he’s carrying the few bags Shizuo gave him to hold is going a bit numb. He looks over at the hand Shizuo isn’t holding his hand with, at all the remaining bags that he’s carrying with absolutely no difficulty.

Izaya frowns, “Aren’t you cold?”

“Not really.” Shizuo shrugs, “I mean, I can feel that it’s cold out here but I guess I’m used to it or something.”

Izaya narrows his eyes at him and a flurry flies directly into his eye before he gets the chance to hiss something at Shizuo about how strange he is.

He’s still rubbing his eye when they get back to Shizuo’s room. Dropping the bags by the stove without a second thought, he walks into the bathroom so he can look in the mirror at his eye. As soon as he sees his reflection he freezes for a moment. Sometimes he forgets how strange he looks dressed so convincingly like a human. Initially his reflection freaked him out, but now he’s more used to it and manages to shake himself out of whatever feeling latches onto him when he so much as glances at a mirror.

Izaya inspects his eye to make sure there’s nothing wrong with it and when he returns to help Shizuo put the groceries away he finds that he’s nearly finished with the task.

He doesn’t comment on Izaya’s absence.

Izaya sits next to him on the floor and starts putting all the bags together inside one of the others. It’s quiet and Izaya doesn’t like the silence right now. “So what was your idea for what we could do after getting food?”

Shizuo glances over at him and the air grows a bit warmer from his embarrassment, “It’s supposed to be a surprise.”

“Oh?” Izaya grins at him, “It’s nice to see that you’re at least trying to impress me now.”

He doesn’t receive a response to that immediately. Shizuo runs a hand through his hair and then plays with a bit of loose plastic on the bottom of the fridge. “I kinda doubt what I have planned is going to impress you, but hopefully you’ll like something about it.” He tugs on a curl at the back of his neck and still doesn’t make eye contact with Izaya, “I’m...not very good at this kinda thing.”

Izaya shrugs and leans back on his hands so he can stare up at the ceiling instead of at Shizuo, knowing that he needs that bit of privacy to compose himself. “You’re doing fine. It’s not like I’ve tried dating a human before. Everything I know about the subject comes from watching or from what you or your friends tell me.”

He can tell from the abrupt inhale Shizuo takes at the word ‘dating’ that he intends to argue against it, but when that argument doesn’t come he risks a glance over at the other. He can’t see his expression but he can see the way he’s still playing with that bit of plastic. Most of what’s circling in his essence is embarrassment and confusion, with that tiny bit of underlying fury that Izaya has learned is a permanent fixture.

They sit there quietly for a few minutes before Shizuo lets out a sigh and abruptly stands up.

“We should go before it gets any later.” He announces with a tiny smile on his lips that Izaya knows is more an attempt at making the demon feel better than from genuine happiness.

“We don’t have to go anywhere.” Izaya responds. Shizuo reaches out to take his hand as soon as he’s standing upright. “If you’re not feeling up to it we could just rest instead.”

“I feel fine, it’s just cold out and I know it’ll get colder the longer we wait.” Shizuo opens the door and lets go of Izaya’s hand long enough to lock it, then they continue down the hallway. “Hopefully it’s not full-on snowing yet because that will be unpleasant to walk through.”

Kadota is on his way inside the building, followed closely by Erika and Walker, and almost runs into Shizuo when he opens the door. Their interaction is brief, made even shorter by Kadota’s obvious aversion to Izaya and the very cold air flowing in from behind them. As the door is closing Izaya latches onto Shizuo’s hand for warmth and grumbles, “Kadota still doesn’t like me.”

Shizuo huffs what he thinks is meant to be a laugh but the very visible puff of vapor that it leaves in the air distracts Izaya for a moment so he misses the expression that goes with it, “He just doesn’t trust you is all. You did kind of come out of nowhere and it’s not like I talked about you before I even knew you existed.”

It is kind of suspicious when he puts it that way. “I’ve not given him a reason not to trust me aside from that though, have I?”

Shizuo shrugs and nods at someone he recognizes as she passes by, her blonde hair flying around fast enough that Izaya fears it will slap her in the face. “Kadota isn’t really the trusting type anyway. He’s always been like that. Togusa is one of the few he’s let get close to him.”

Izaya frowns, “What about Erika and Walker?”

“Oh they’re close to him too, it’s just different. For one thing they pushed their way into his affections, Togusa was allowed without that kind of force.”

He considers this. Erika certainly seems the type to force her way into a friendship. She’s been abrasive enough with Shizuo and is just now making headway with Izaya. Walker is a bit more surprising though. “You’re close to him too. How did that come about?”

Shizuo is silent for a long few moments, during which Izaya watches his expression and his essence for anything that might give him some hint as to what he’s thinking about but there is nothing. “Exposure, I think? We’ve known each other for a very long time. Not as long as Shinra but. I met him and Tom at about the same time.”

“Tom is much warmer to me than Kadota is.”

Shizuo shrugs this off. “That’s because Tom-san is different from Kadota. And he’s around you more often.”

“Maybe--”

“Kadota will warm up to you the longer you’re around him.” He smiles at Izaya when he catches his eye, “You’ve charmed nearly everyone else after all. Just give it time. You don’t have to be friends with everyone you meet anyway. I dunno why this is such a big deal to you.”

Izaya is not going to explain that.

He looks around at all the places they haven’t gone in and his curiosity about what Shizuo has in mind grows. “Shizu-chan?” Shizuo hums at him and Izaya smiles to himself happily at both the sound and the successful transition, “Where are you taking me?”

“It’s supposed to be a surprise, Izaya.”

“But?”

Shizuo laughs and the air around him grows faintly warmer in response, “I’m not going to tell you just because you asked again.”

“That isn’t fair.” Izaya huffs at him. He’d cross his arms if he wasn’t depending on holding Shizuo’s hand for warmth. “Are we almost there?”

“It’s in this area, so yeah we’re almost there.” Shizuo answers, but doesn’t elaborate further.

Izaya would be more annoyed by this if he wasn’t distracted by the snowflakes dancing around and the lights on the store signs. He’s beginning to understand why the humans try to make the signs as enticing as possible.

The place they go into is markedly less impressive than most of the ones they’ve passed. And inside there are rows of clothing. Izaya stands beside Shizuo in the doorway for several moments without responding. Then he asks, “This was your idea?”

Shizuo rubs the back of his neck, obviously embarrassed, “Well…”

“That wasn’t a complaint.” Izaya giggles at his discomfort and squeezes his fingers, “Why’d you choose to take me here?”

Shizuo waves vaguely at the rows of things in front of them, “I figured you could pick out a coat that’ll actually, y’know, fit. Specially since it’s so cold out now and none of mine have proper hoods.”

Izaya is vibrating with excitement about this by the time Shizuo has finished his explanation. He might not be a huge fan of having to wear clothes, but he does like the way they look on him and appreciates that they keep him from freezing even more. He leaves Shizuo to his own devices so he can wander around without the distraction of Shizuo’s skin on his for awhile.

He skips around one side of the store for a few unsuccessful minutes and then wanders over to the other side. It’s there that he finds something he likes. He drags Shizuo over to it from where he’s looking through some sweaters he’s probably considering getting for him. He can do that after, but first…

“Look at what I found.” Izaya exclaims with far more enthusiasm than he quite means to show. But it’s already out in the open for Shizuo to see now so he doesn’t bother containing it, beaming a smile up at him as he takes in the dark material and soft fur. Izaya twists it on the hanger and tugs the hood up far enough for Shizuo to see the ears attached to the outside, “Isn’t it perfect? It’s even got ears like the tiny furry things you compare me to all the time.”

He’s not just talking about cats either. Shizuo really does compare him to a lot of small animals. Most recently it was a tiny dog with floppy ears. Izaya did like that dog but he wouldn’t admit as much when his pride is at stake.

Without saying anything, Shizuo takes the hanger with the coat and holds it up so Izaya can see its full length next to his own. It comes down to his ankles, which is ideal because he needs something to cover up his legs even further than Shizuo’s shirts and jackets have been. Shizuo stares between him and the coat and then, in a calm voice, “I think it suits you. Do you want to look around more or?”

Izaya beams at him and takes the hanger from him so he can fold the coat over his arm, “This is what I want. You were looking at something over there, did you maybe have something you wanted to get?”

Shizuo’s face falls into a confused frown, “What? I wasn’t…” he glances back over at the sweaters he was considering earlier, “Oh. No, I was just looking.”

“Are we going back to the room after we leave here?” Izaya asks while he follows Shizuo to the person standing behind the counter.

“I think that’s probably best, yeah. It’s starting to get even colder and I’d rather neither of us end up sick or something.”

Shizuo greets the girl politely and Izaya is about to do the same when he gets a good look at her. Her physical appearance doesn’t stand out much. He’s seen plenty of humans with brown hair and though he hasn’t seen many with grey eyes he knows that falls within the realm of normal.

What makes him pause is her essence. It feels _off_ , but only just enough for him to notice. The color is a soft pink that he has never seen on a human before.

When Shizuo nudges him very softly he shakes his head to dislodge his suspicions and meets her eyes. She looks vaguely familiar but he can’t remember why that is. He’s unable to bring himself to say much and bows like he saw Shizuo do in an attempt to make up for it.

Shizuo seems content with this, if a bit confused, and the girl just smiles politely at them.

It’s not until they leave the store that Izaya takes a breath and allows himself to ask, “Have I met that person before?”

Shizuo transfers the bag he’s holding from his left hand into his right and reaches for Izaya’s hand before he shrugs, “If you have then it was probably at the cafe. I’ve never seen her before that I can remember.”

Izaya frowns at the sidewalk, “Right.”

“Why?” he asks after a brief pause, “Did she seem really familiar?”

Izaya shakes his head, “No, just. Kind of familiar. It’s not really important, I was just wondering.”

Though Shizuo said he doubted that the snow would stick, there are places where it has started to accumulate and parts of the sidewalk are icy. Usually anyone walking around at this hour is in a hurry to get somewhere but the few that are out in the cold seem to be a bit more intent on not slipping on the ice than running to meet their friends.

Once they make it inside it becomes abundantly clear that most of the students have decided to spend time either in their rooms or in the lounge with what smells like hot chocolate and coffee. Shizuo looks at him to see if he has any interest in joining the other students but Izaya is exhausted suddenly and barely even makes eye contact with him.

Thankfully none of the rooms surrounding Shizuo’s are as loud as the ones further down the hallway. Shizuo unlocks the door and lets Izaya in first and usually Izaya would strip off as many layers as possible as quickly as possible, but he doesn’t have the energy for that. He sits down out of Shizuo’s way and starts taking his boots off.

He’s not trying to keep up the pretense that he can’t take them off by himself but Shizuo kneels down to make the process faster.

While Shizuo is still by the door untying his own shoes Izaya wanders around slowly, looking for something warm to sleep in. It takes him significantly longer than usual to change his clothes. By the time he’s dropping into the mattress Shizuo has stepped out of the bathroom with steam pouring off of his skin, his hair still damp and curling in various directions.

Izaya curls up on his side to avoid staring at him and the bed dips behind him right before the room goes dark.

Even with Shizuo’s arm draped over his waist and the sound of his deep breathing that indicates he’s peacefully asleep, Izaya can’t shake the feeling of oddness he’s had since he saw that girl. At least with Shizuo touching him he doesn’t feel so lethargic, but he wonders where that came from to begin with.

Pink isn’t a human essence color, but most demons have vibrant reds so she couldn’t have been a demon. She could be like Shizuo, but the comparison makes Izaya’s skin crawl with wrongness. She’s something other, not-quite demonic instead of not-quite human.

The sense of familiarity that Izaya got just from looking at her is confusing. If he hasn’t met her here and Shizuo has never seen her before then…

He grits his teeth and hisses in frustration. Shizuo’s arm around his waist pulls him the tiniest bit closer in response. He runs his fingers up Shizuo’s arm and turns onto his side so he can face him, feeling the sudden urge to hide in the comfort of his arms and wrapped even further in his essence.

Izaya didn’t expect for his absence to be noticed so quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think that I'm steadily updating this a bit quicker? It takes a lot of energy as I've stated before but I love it anyway. Also yay look the plot is developing. It's kinda slow to get anywhere, but there's stuff going on in the background. That's all I'm gonna tell you though. Let me know what you think! 
> 
> I hope you're all doing well and that you're having a good day!!


	5. A Demon's Wrath

Izaya is asleep when Shizuo wakes up.

He’s almost successfully wrapped himself up in Shizuo’s arms and has his face pressed none-too-gently into Shizuo’s chest. Shizuo isn’t sure how but he finds this endearing. Izaya is usually very close to him when they wake up, but not quite this clingy.

Shizuo doesn’t have anywhere to go today, for once, so deciding to stay in bed and wait for Izaya to wake up is easy. The decision to actively touch him is less so.

Izaya’s hair is incredibly soft under his fingertips as he pushes it away from his face. He brushes it back behind his ear, where it stays until he grazes his fingers along the underside of Izaya’s jaw. The demon responds to the touch by tilting his head and purring loudly. His hair falls back and fans out on the sheet under him, black on dark blue.

With his entire face visible instead of shoved against Shizuo’s sternum, Shizuo can see that there are dark circles under his eyes and though he looks pleased with the light touches Shizuo feathers along the underside of his jaw to keep him purring and relaxed, his expression still looks troubled.

Shizuo thinks back to the girl in the store, to the way Izaya had frozen up when he’d seen her and then later asked if he knew her in a voice that betrayed his discomfort. He’s worried there is more to that than Izaya wants him to know.

It’s possible that it’s nothing for him to worry about. It’s equally possible that it’s incredibly important and Izaya is unlikely to tell him even if he chose to ask about it.

Izaya’s lips part on a tiny sigh and Shizuo deliberately looks away, toward the delicate skin on his hand instead. He slides his arm into a more secure position under Izaya’s neck and, with his free hand, brings Izaya’s hand up toward his lips. With the barest whisper of pressure, he touches his lips to each knuckle and sighs. The purr in Izaya’s throat grows louder and Shizuo very nearly drops his hand in surprise.

His initial intention was to _look_ at his hand, try to get a better idea of the wrinkles around each knuckle or look for scars, anything that he might have missed previously that he could add to his project. He ignores the urge to let go and carefully turns his hand over so he can look at the lines in his palm.

As it turns out, he does have a scar. It’s so pale that he almost overlooks it. If he wasn’t looking so closely and thoroughly he would have. The skin isn’t even raised as with most of his own scars. It’s obviously old, already faded to a pale white, and he can’t tell what would’ve caused it. It’s a thin line on his palm, just below his right index. He doubts they have knives where Izaya’s from but that’s about the only thing he can think of aside from a very sharp rock that could’ve left a scar like this one.

Izaya’s hand suddenly tenses, his nails embedding themselves in Shizuo’s skin just enough for it to ache.

It’s very possible that something’s claws could’ve caused the scar. Izaya’s nails are particularly long and sharp when he lies around in demon form. Shizuo is fairly convinced that other demons have nails like that as well. Though he’s never seen another, in demon form at least.

Hopefully he’s never met another demon, but with the things Izaya has told him it’s very likely that he has come across quite a few.

He frowns, dropping his gaze from Izaya’s nails clawing at his hand to his face. Izaya’s expression is extremely troubled. His eyebrows are deeply furrowed and he looks almost like he’s in _pain_. Shizuo rubs circles into the back of his hand as best he can with how hard Izaya is clenching his fingers. After a few minutes he lets go altogether and claws at Shizuo’s chest.

Shizuo wraps his arms around him and pulls him closer. He stills as soon as Shizuo’s fingers thread into his hair to sooth him, growling something low that Shizuo takes as appreciation merely because he’s no longer trying to rip his ribcage open with his nails.

Izaya’s breathing slows back down and his body goes lax once again.

He waits for several minutes before he risks unwrapping one arm from around the demon and reaching for his phone so he can text Celty.

_Something’s wrong with Izaya._

She texts him back almost immediately, the concern evident in her haste. _What do you mean?_

_I dunno, he’s acting weird. He’s asleep right now but he was abnormally tired last night after we got back and now I think he’s having nightmares._

While he waits for her to respond he adds: _He never has nightmares. I didn’t even think he could have them._

Her response worries him a tiny bit. _Does he have a fever?_

Shizuo drops his phone on the pillow beside his face and feels Izaya’s forehead, then the back of his neck. He frowns and picks his phone back up: _He feels the same as usual._

It takes her only a few seconds this time. _It could just be a cold._

 _He can catch colds??_ Shizuo asks, incredulous.

Her closeness with Shinra is very apparent in her answer to this.

_I can’t imagine why not. He’s in a foreign environment. His body is bound to wear down eventually. I’m surprised it took so long, actually._

Shizuo drops his phone on the pillow and rubs his face for a moment. He looks at Izaya’s face, at the dark circles under his eyes and how pale his skin is. He picks his phone up again.

 _That’s not very reassuring._ He types out and sends before he can regret that choice of words. _I don’t know how to take care of a sick demon. He doesn’t even need food or sleep usually. He’s not human, Celty, what am I supposed to do?_

It takes her several minutes to come up with an answer to him and what she says isn’t as helpful as he was hoping it would be.

_You said he’s asleep, right? If he’s still resting then I think you should let him. He’s told me he gets energy from sleep. Even if it’s not much compared to what he’s used to, it’s better than nothing._

Shizuo huffs in annoyance and freezes when Izaya stirs a little bit, just long enough to nuzzle his face into Shizuo’s neck and fall back asleep. When he looks back at his phone screen Celty has sent another text.

_Keep him warm if you can. It’s possible that his body is responding to the snow or the cold air in general. That’s all I can think of right now. I’ll try reading up on this later when I get back to my room. If I find anything I’ll let you know._

He sighs and thanks her for her help, but he still feels lost.

He looks down at the demon in his arms and rubs his thumb across the skin between his shoulder blades. He doesn’t respond aside from starting to purr in soft waves.

At least Izaya seems relaxed again.

Shizuo has no intention of getting out of bed until he absolutely has to. When Izaya wakes up he’ll adjust the heater to a few degrees warmer. He knows Izaya will still be cold even if it feels too warm to Shizuo, but at least the air will be warmer than it already is. He considers filling the tub with hot water as well, but it’s useless to make plans until Izaya wakes up.

He entertains himself by playing with Izaya’s hair and then feathering soft touches across his face and neck, smiling to himself about the loud purring that this draws out of the other.

This is what he does until Izaya grumbles at him and blinks his eyes open, barely enough for him to see brilliant red irises staring up at him in confused annoyance. “What’re you doing?”

“Uh…” Shizuo’s fingers are in Izaya’s hair. He has absolutely no way to back out of this situation with a flimsy excuse while expecting Izaya to actually believe it. So he tells the truth: “I was trying to comfort you.”

Izaya glares tiredly at him but doesn’t move to take Shizuo’s hand out of his hair or push him away. “Why’d you stop?”

“...because you woke up.”

The demon nuzzles closer to his chest and makes a faint sound of complaint once he’s comfortable, “Keep going, it feels nice.”

Shizuo does as he asks. After a few minutes go by in silence that’s only disrupted by Izaya’s purring and their breathing, Shizuo readjusts so that he can look down at Izaya’s face without pulling away entirely. Izaya takes the opportunity to wrap a leg around his hip and grins at him. Even with his eyes closed he knows that Shizuo is flustered.

He clears his throat and chooses to ignore the press of Izaya’s hips against his own, “Are you feeling alright?”

Izaya blinks open his eyes and gives him a strange look, “Yes. Why? Have you decided to finally take me up on my offers?”

Shizuo’s breath leaves him abruptly and he can’t tell whether the sound that comes with it is a hiss or a growl but Izaya laughs quietly anyway, “Will you stop that? I’m asking about your well-being, not if you woke up horny.”

“I can answer both of those questions if you like.”

He shakes his head, resists the urge to pull the demon’s hair. “I’d rather you didn’t do that.”

Izaya looks up at him and his eyes narrow slightly, “Why are you worried? What happened?”

Shizuo blinks at him in confusion. It takes him far too long to remember that Izaya can sense his emotions and by that time he’s flushing with embarrassment. He wonders what else Izaya can see right now. “You were acting weird last night and when I woke up you were upset.” He pulls away a bit and lifts his shirt so that Izaya can see the fading red lines on his chest, “You had a nightmare too, from the looks of it.”

“Ah, yeah it does look that way doesn’t it.” Izaya touches the scratches lightly with the pads of his fingers and Shizuo tries really hard to ignore how soft his skin is. “I’d apologize for this, but I didn’t do it intentionally so there’s really no reason to.”

Shizuo rolls his eyes and lies on his back so he can stare up at the ceiling while he composes himself. Izaya doesn’t stop touching his chest. “Are you feeling good?” Shizuo asks without thinking about the possible connotations of that and then adds, “I was worried you might be sick because of how cold it’s gotten.”

“I’m fine as long as Shizu-chan is touching me.” Izaya remarks.

Shizuo sits there in silence for a moment. “Guess you don’t need to take a bath with me then.”

“What?” Izaya’s face is hovering over his immediately, eyebrows drawn together in frustration, “You were going to let me take a bath with you if I’m sick?”

Shizuo shrugs, “It’d keep you warm. But you said you’re fine so--”

“Shizu-chaaaaan.” Izaya whines in clear agitation, “Why didn’t you tell me that _first_?”

“Because I am not an idiot, that’s why.” Actually he’d thought about bringing that up as soon as Izaya woke up but he’s not going to tell him that. “You don’t need me to bathe with you.”

“I might not need it but I really want it.” The demon grumbles and drops down onto the mattress right next to him, “Can’t you make an exception? I really don’t feel good when you’re not touching me. Last night more than usual.”

Shizuo’s eyebrows pull together in confusion, “Really?”

“Yes,” Izaya hisses tiredly, “and before you ask me why, I don’t know the answer.”

“Wasn’t gonna ask that.” he murmurs, his thoughts traveling to the night before and he searches for the moment he’d noticed Izaya dragging his feet. “Are you hungry?”

There’s a chuckle, then Izaya’s rolling away from him, “No.”

“What--”

“I want to take a bath with you Shizu-chan. I don’t even need food. We’ve talked about this.”

They’ve had that discussion several times but Shizuo is still convinced that Izaya draws energy from the food. He must use it for other things because where the hell does it go otherwise. He’s not going to bring this up again though. Izaya’s already in a bad mood and he doesn’t want to make it worse.

“If I make something small for you will you eat it?”

Izaya sighs half-heartedly, “If I eat it will you let me do what I want?”

Shizuo rubs the back of his neck, uncertain what to do. Izaya’s body language is closed-off, something he’s only seen tiny glimpses of up to this point. It’s worrying. Not only does he not know why, he also can’t ask about it because he knows Izaya won’t tell him.

“I, uh.” Shizuo hesitates. He’s not had to comfort Izaya for something not-trivial yet and isn’t the best at it to begin with. He’s a very physical person; he’s never been very good with words and he never had the patience to work on it instead of his usual reaction of exploding with rage at every given opportunity.

Shizuo shakes his head. He hates himself, but focusing on that won’t help Izaya.

With anxiety and concern warring for his attention, he huffs out a breath and reaches out to touch the back of Izaya’s neck. His touch is light at first but when Izaya doesn’t growl at him or try to push him away he lets himself caress his skin.

His fingers tingle.

“Y’know I have the day off, right?” Shizuo announces conversationally, “And since it’s snowing and we got groceries yesterday, we actually don’t have anything that we have to do today.”

Izaya doesn’t respond at first, and when he does it’s in a small voice, “So?”

“So...if you want to do something then--”

The demon turns his head so he can glare at him through his periphery, “You wouldn’t want to do what I want to do.”

A shiver races up his spine and he stops stroking the back of Izaya’s neck in surprise, “Are you angry with me?”

Izaya looks away again, “No. I just feel awful.”

Shizuo frowns at the back of his head. He’s worried. If Izaya’s sick he might need to stay in the room for another day and that means possibly having to ask off from work or skipping class. Maybe both.

He fumbles with his phone one-handed for a moment before he loses patience and drags himself closer to Izaya so he can be touching him and still use both hands. Izaya makes a tiny noise that might be surprise or him trying to swallow the urge to purr, but he doesn’t react much otherwise.

When he finally gets the calendar app on his phone to load, he stares at it in confusion for a while. Somehow it didn’t hit him that Christmas is next week.

Shizuo panics. He forgot to call his mom and tell her he’s going to be bringing a friend home for winter break. She’s going to be upset with him for cutting it this close.

He’s climbing out of bed and heading to the bathroom as he dials his mother’s number, completely forgetting to explain himself to Izaya beforehand. He can hear him complaining about the cold from here but it stops when he turns the knobs on the bathtub to get the water started.

The phone is still ringing when he’s plugged the drain and is standing in the open bathroom doorway, trying his hardest to ignore the way Izaya’s eyes trail over him.

His mother picks up right before the call goes to voicemail. “Hello?”

He almost sighs in relief at the happiness in her voice but stops himself. He smiles, “Hey mom, it’s Shizuo.”

There’s a bit of shuffling that he imagines is her putting something down so she can focus on the call. He wonders if she has a lot of business right now. “Oh goodness, this is unexpected! It’s so nice to hear from you. How are you, darling? Is everything alright?”

Shizuo chuckles softly at the underlying concern in her voice, “I’m great, everything’s fine.”

“Well that’s good news.” He hears her let out a relieved sigh and he doesn’t blame her. “Are you calling to check up on your father and I, Kasuka maybe? Oh, I’m sure you’re aware already, but Kasuka is bringing Ruri-chan home during your visit. He’s really hoping you will get along with her well.”

Izaya’s eyes are burning holes into Shizuo’s face but he doesn’t look at him. He glances at the bath water to check the water’s progress instead. “I actually had something I needed to ask you about. It’s kinda related to that, in fact.”

His mother’s voice is calm and comforting even as what she says is disconcertingly accurate, “Please tell me you’re bringing someone home for the holiday as well. I know you love our company, but I’m afraid you’ll be bored with noone to entertain.”

Shizuo bites his lip to refrain from laughing, “I’m not much of an entertainer, mom.”

“Nonsense, you have plenty of friends and you’re such a pleasant young man I’m sure you’re not lacking for company.”

“Uh, well.” Shizuo squeezes the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index, glances briefly over at Izaya and then away again because that just makes him more nervous. “I would like to bring someone with me for you to meet. He’s doesn’t have anywhere else to go.” Izaya huffs at him from the bed, sounding faintly amused but mostly irritated, “I’m really sorry I didn’t bring this up sooner, I know you like to have advanced warning for this kind of thing.”

His mother’s laughter fills his ear, “Don’t worry about it, Shizuo. Plans change, these things happen. And I’d be happy to meet your friend. It’s such a rare opportunity I intend to take full advantage.”

“Is it really okay if he stays the whole time though? He can have my bed, but if you’d be more comfortable with us in a hotel then I--”

“Of course I’m okay with him staying here. You’d never bring someone dangerous home.” Shizuo closes his eyes at the guilt that burns through him. Izaya is one of the most dangerous things he could bring home, but he can’t tell her that. She probably wouldn’t believe him even if he did. His mother gives him too much credit. “I’ll speak with your father about this later this evening, but I’m sure he’ll be thrilled. It’s not often we get to meet your friends.”

Shizuo laughs shortly, “He’s definitely...something.”

He remembers the bath water and rushes to shut the tap off. He sighs and sits on the edge of the tub, listening to his mother prattle on about all the things she’s excited to make for all of them and then she starts talking about work. Some of her clients this season have been especially demanding but they’re paying her significantly more than she was expecting to make on cakes alone.

“Do you need any help? I’d be glad to lend a hand while I’m there.” Shizuo offers.

“That’s very kind of you, Shizuo. I’ll gladly accept your help if I need it, but it’s your break and I’d like for you to rest as much as possible. And I’m sure your friend won’t want to sit around helping us bake cakes.”

“Actually...I think he might enjoy that quite a lot. He’s watched me make food and I’ve never heard him complaining of boredom.”

“That’s because I like to stare at your shoulders.” Izaya mumbles from his nest on the bed. “And your _hands_.”

Shizuo tries to ignore him but his face feels hot anyway, “I’m really sorry but I’ve gotta go, mom.”

She does the vocal equivalent of waving off his apology, “That’s alright. I’ll see you next week then? Along with your friend?”

“Yes,” Shizuo nods, glaring at Izaya when he giggles at him for it, “and I’ll try to make sure he’s on his best behavior.” Izaya raises an eyebrow and sits up far enough that the blanket falls to collect around his waist. His shirt is missing. Shizuo abruptly drops his gaze to the floor between his feet. “Can’t really make any promises though.”

“I look forward to it. Goodbye Shizuo. Call me if you need anything, alright?”

“Yeah, I will. Bye mom.”

Barely five second pass after he ends the call before Izaya is launching himself across the room and into his lap. If he hadn’t braced himself for it then they both would’ve fallen into the bathtub, clothes and all. As it is, he’s surprised Izaya didn’t knock the breath out of himself with the impact.

Izaya is in the process of trying to tug Shizuo’s shirt up over his head when he manages to push him away far enough to see his expression. He knows his own is burning red with how flustered he is. Izaya grins at him when he notices, but his cheeks are also fairly red and his eyes are a bit unfocused so it’s not just him affected by this.

“Stop trying to undress me.”

Izaya huffs and tugs at his own sweatpants, “I thought you said I could do what I want.”

“I have never said that.”

“ _So...if you want to do something then_.” Izaya says in a shockingly accurate mirror of Shizuo’s voice, “Then what, Shizu-chan? Weren’t you going to ask me to tell you want I want to do?”

“That’s not the same as saying you can do whatever you want.” Shizuo grumbles as he pulls his shirt off. The scratches Izaya left on him are already beginning to fade. “You have to ask for that kinda stuff. We’re not really...at that stage.”

Izaya’s sigh is exaggerated. “When will we be at that stage, Shizuo? I’ve been sleeping with you for months now. I can’t believe you’ve not even tried to kiss me yet.”

 _It’s not like I don’t want to_ , Shizuo thinks and almost says. Maybe he is dragging his feet with this, but he wants it to go right. For as long as Izaya is here, he wants him to feel like Shizuo cares about him.

 _Maybe that’s why he wants that_ , his mind whispers unhelpfully. He shakes his head and looks up from untying the waistband on his sweats to see the naked expanse of Izaya’s body. He’s seen him naked enough times, this really should not be his reaction every single time but it is and he can’t help it.

Izaya is beautiful.

There is absolutely no way to overlook that. He’s the most beautiful thing Shizuo has ever seen. He wants to treat him with the same care and gentleness that he feels just from _looking_ at him, but he’s afraid of himself and afraid of attachment.

He _wants_ to love him. It would be easy to, as natural as breathing.

Shizuo sighs and folds his pants, paying extra attention to them to avoid looking directly at Izaya. “We’ll get there.”

Izaya huffs at him but doesn’t say anything. He isn’t content with this answer and Shizuo knows that. It’s not a satisfactory answer by any means, but it’s all he can come up with right now.

Izaya waits until Shizuo is settled in the bathtub before he climbs in. He doesn’t sit directly on top of Shizuo’s lap like he expects him to. He sits between his thighs, facing away from Shizuo with his arms curled around his knees.

Shizuo frowns at him, “Aren’t you cold?”

He feels the tips of Izaya’s fingers touch the skin connecting his thighs to his pelvis and glances down at the barely there touch of Izaya’s lower back against him. The touch of his fingers leaves and Shizuo sighs tiredly, “You can touch me more than this, you know. You’re cold, that’s the entire point of us being in here together.”

Izaya’s entire back tenses up but he doesn’t move.

Shizuo stares at his shoulders for an entire minute before he slowly slides his legs down until they’re crossed at the ankle. This brings his legs closer to Izaya’s hips and more of their skin is touching, but he doesn’t do more than this. If Izaya wants to reciprocate then he can, Shizuo isn’t going to make that decision for him.

Eventually Izaya uncurls from around his legs and leans back against Shizuo. He’s able to almost completely stretch his legs, only his toes touching the other side of the tub. Shizuo is careful to keep his arms up on the sides for the time being.

Izaya is playing with the water, roaming his fingers just beneath the surface and creating tiny whirlpools when he speaks, “What is your mother like?”

The question is unexpected and Shizuo has to take a moment to collect himself before he answers. “She’s amazing. I don’t think she’s ever met a person that hasn’t loved her.”

He can see the very edge of Izaya’s lips pull up and then, in a very quiet voice, says, “Sounds like you inherited that from her.”

Shizuo snorts, “I wouldn’t say that. I did inherit her appearance though. My eyes and hair came from her. When it’s...not dyed.”

“Where’d your strength come from?” Izaya asks, rolling his head on Shizuo’s shoulder so he can look at his face instead of the water.

He wants to smile at him and joke about it, but he finds himself snarling and clenching his jaw. His hands curl into fists and he’s glad he resisted the urge to hold Izaya a few moments ago. “It’s a _curse_. Didn’t inherit it from anyone.”

Izaya is silent for a long time, long enough for Shizuo’s anger to die down but not long enough for the self-loathing to fade. “Is that how everyone sees it? Or have you been told otherwise.”

He sounds pensive, like he’s considering something. Shizuo doesn’t look at him. He stares at his own fist instead, not wanting to direct his aggression at Izaya even if it’s just in the form of a glare. “I’ve been told it’s a gift, and a tool.” He grits his teeth and shuts his eyes, “I’ve also been told I’m the spawn of a demon. A _monster_. Something normal people should be terrified of.”

Soft fingers touch his forearm, gentle and coaxing, trying to ask for permission to hold his hand. He relaxes his arm and unclenches his fingers. Izaya pulls his arm toward him slowly and presses his hand to his chest. Slim fingers curl between his own to hold it there.

“I don’t know where it came from,” he says finally. He sounds significantly calmer than he did, but his voice is still rough.

Izaya is quiet. Shizuo is worried that he’s upset him somehow even though he seems calm enough. His expression is soft and thoughtful.

“You’re not a monster,” he says softly. “I’ve met monsters and you’re nothing like them.”

As promised, though in the wrong order and he didn’t _actually_ promise to do it, Izaya eats what Shizuo makes for him after they finish their bath. And later, when Izaya starts to doze off, Shizuo decides to work on his projects. The stress is starting to get to him and keeping ahead of himself usually takes the edge off, but with the very distracting presence of the demon he’s had to entertain for the last few months it has grown harder to stay ahead.

Izaya’s head is pillowed on Shizuo’s thigh, a blanket wrapped behind his shoulders to prop his torso up enough to make the angle comfortable and another blanket wrapped around the rest of him in what looks very much like a cocoon.

Shizuo’s forearm brushes against soft dark hair more times than he can count before he sighs and settles for running his fingers through it while he does his work one handed. He’s gotten so used to Izaya’s purring that he doesn’t think it’s strange anymore. It’s comforting and lets him know that the demon is happy, or at least comfortable since his expression isn’t exactly _happy_ right now. Shizuo doesn’t know what’s bothering him but he can’t do anything more to soothe it than he already is.

It’s difficult to try to put it out of his mind when Izaya’s face is so close and he can see every twitch of his brows or eyelids or lips.

He’s very much trying to ignore his lips.

It has been at least an hour before Shizuo absolutely has to shift. Izaya makes a pathetic sound of protest and grumbles under his breath about how tired he is, rolling over and falling asleep again almost instantly. Shizuo chuckles and carefully keeps his fingers touching Izaya’s scalp until he’s readjusted and can stretch his leg out along the other’s back.

Izaya snuggles back against him like he does when they’re in bed, but he seems to realize that it’s just his leg because he stops and frowns. Even though he doesn’t say anything Shizuo can tell he’s unhappy with this arrangement.

“I have to do homework,” Shizuo mumbles and regrets it immediately when Izaya hisses at him.

“I’m trying to sleep, Shizu-chan. I don’t care what you’re doing.”

Shizuo resists the urge to laugh.

After another full hour has passed his thoughts start to trail away from his work. Izaya is still asleep, looking just as troubled as he did when Shizuo woke up this morning, and he thinks now would be a good time for a break.

He considers how he’s going to be able to keep some part of himself touching Izaya while he reaches for his cigarettes and opens the window. It doesn’t seem likely that he’ll be able to unless he pokes him with his toes while he sits on his desk. The box is across the room on the dresser where he left it earlier and there is no way he can get to that and keep Izaya warm at the same time.

He’s still staring longingly at the box when Izaya wakes up a few minutes later, agitated and fussy. The demon takes one look at him, then the cigarettes, and raises an eyebrow.

“Really, Shizuo?” He sounds exasperated.

Without that tiny edge of hoarseness in the back of his throat, he might have come across as serious as he meant to. He sounds pathetic instead. Shizuo turns to look at him just as he gets up to stumble across the room to grab the box. He looks at the box as if he’s disgusted by its existence and then throws it at him. He stares at Shizuo for a few seconds with irritation written all over his face and right when Shizuo thinks he’s going to say something else he turns away and focuses on crawling onto the bed instead.

Opening the curtains reveals the icy mess that the snow has made of the courtyard outside. Shizuo hesitates to open the window for just long enough to make sure that Izaya is under the blankets and when he does open it, it lets in a rush of frigid air that bites at his face.

A few stray flurries float inside while he’s lighting the end of a cigarette and he hears Izaya huff in annoyance from behind him. He glances over his shoulder. “What is it?”

“You make sure I’m bundled up, but look at yourself.” Izaya waits for him to do just that before he continues, “You’re wearing boxers and a t-shirt. Please explain to me how this is acceptable in your mind.”

Shizuo chuckles as he breathes out, watches the smoke curl and dissipate, “Hadn’t really noticed until you pointed it out.”

“How do you not notice?” Izaya growls, “It’s _freezing_.”

Shizuo shrugs, “Dunno. I’m just not that cold.”

“Won’t you get sick like that? You said something about that yesterday. Or did that just apply to me and you said ‘us’ so I’d feel better about the possibility?”

“Uhh,” Shizuo carefully avoids eye contact and takes a deeper drag this time to give himself more time to think of an answer to that. If it weren’t so cold in the room with the window open, he’d expect Izaya to be clawing at his back in annoyance. He breathes out slowly and ignores the hiss Izaya directs at him for it, “That’s kinda just something people say. I don’t know if you can get sick and I haven’t in as long as I can remember.”

“Do you always test your body’s tolerance like this?”

“Not really? Usually my body’s tolerance is tested,” _by breaking shit_ , Shizuo grits his teeth against the thought, “by the amount of shit I put up with without losing my patience.”

“And if you do lose patience?” Izaya asks.

That curious gaze is burning into Shizuo’s shoulders. It’s harder than it should be to ignore the urge to look at him. Shizuo sucks in a breath and hopes the nicotine will do its job and actually calm him down. So far he’s had no such luck. “It doesn’t make me sick to lose patience,” Shizuo grumbles.

Izaya isn’t satisfied with this answer. “What does it do then.”

Shizuo doesn’t respond to this. He didn’t think he’d have to. If Izaya can really tell what he’s feeling all the time then surely he already knows the anger he has to battle constantly.

He’s lucky that nothing has made him snap since he got here. The only thing he’s broken was the desk he had before this one, safely away from anyone else. He doesn’t even remember what made him so angry, just that he was and when he was calm enough to pay attention to where he was, he was standing over splintered wood in his own room.

He doesn’t want anyone else to see him like that. Not even Izaya.

 _Especially_ not Izaya after that talk about monsters a few hours ago.

“Shizu-chan, you’re going to burn yourself if you don’t pay attention.” The demon announces from right over his shoulder. He flinches away and Izaya giggles when he drops ash on his thigh.

“Fuck!”

“What were you thinking about so intently, mm?” Izaya is still giggling somewhere just behind him, “Was it something about me?”

“No.” Shizuo throws the answer at him too quickly for it not to be taken as a lie and Izaya is grinning when he half turns to glare at him. “It wasn’t about you.”

Izaya’s eyes are a vibrant red, his expression warm with equal parts mirth and mischief as he smirks at him. “What were you thinking about then? That was an awfully quick dismissal.” The demon rolls onto his back to look at him upside down and Shizuo notices his tail sticking out of the blankets, “Seems suspicious to me.”

Shizuo clears his throat and slams the window closed. He ignores the way Izaya’s eyes flash at him, “Doesn’t matter if it’s suspicious to you. I’m not telling you a damn thing.”

A tiny pink tongue pokes out at him and then disappears behind pouting lips. Shizuo looks away immediately but not before Izaya notices that he’s blushing. “I can see right through you, Shizu-chan. I don’t know why you try to hide things from me.”

Shizuo narrows his eyes and stomps across the room to throw his half wasted cigarette in the trash, “You can’t read my mind, Izaya. Think what you want from my emotions or whatever the fuck it is you’re seeing. But it doesn’t mean you’re right.”

“Would you like me to tell you everything I can see right now?” Izaya asks, his voice heated and seductive.

He would very much like to know what Izaya can see, but he’s not going to tell him that no matter how much Izaya pries at him or demands it. He’s trying to come up with a believable response to that when his phone vibrates _loudly_ on the desk where he left it. Izaya flinches at the noise and Shizuo practically sprints to the distraction it offers.

It’s just a text but that is more than enough excuse to ignore the way Izaya’s staring at him. He clicks on the tiny envelope and waits impatiently for the few second it takes for it to open. He’s relieved to see that it’s from Celty until he opens it and reads over it.

_Has Izaya come into contact with any other demons since he got here?_

The question is reasonable enough and he tries to remind himself that Izaya told him there are demons everywhere, that even he might not notice them, and that he is the one that asked Celty for help this morning about Izaya’s odd behavior. But it doesn’t help quell his suspicion or the sense of betrayal he gets from the _possibility_ of Izaya seeing another demon and not telling him.

He tries to ignore how he feels and thinks back to the odd behavior Izaya had last night, how he’d reacted to that girl and how tired he’d been after that. He doesn’t look up to meet Izaya’s eyes though he can feel them on his face. It’s hard to keep his expression neutral.

_He might have. There was a girl yesterday that made him act weird. Is that why he’s so tired?_

It’s an agonizing two minutes until she texts him back.

_Apparently coming into contact with demons of a different type can drain even higher ranking ones. I would’ve thought Izaya was immune to this, or at least prepared for that eventuality since there are ways to prevent it, but if he wasn’t paying attention then it’s likely that she stole energy from him._

Shizuo stares at the text and rereads it a few times before he tries to come up with a coherent enough response. _If he wasn’t paying attention? So if he was then this wouldn’t have happened? Or is this something he can’t prevent because of the contract thing?_

It takes her a significantly longer amount of time to answer him this time. He sits on the couch without saying anything and tries to avoid eye contact with Izaya but the demon is staring at him so intently it’s impossible to ignore him either way. Izaya is taking a breath to say something when Shizuo’s phone vibrates and cuts him off.

_The book I have says contracted demons draw energy from the human that contracted them. Were you touching at the time he came into contact with the girl?_

He ignores the urge to tell Izaya this new bit of information and thinks back on what Celty asked him. He’s pretty sure they weren’t touching while they were in that store. They don’t usually when they’re inside unless it’s on campus, or while they’re in private like they were at Russia Sushi. He relays this to Celty and waits impatiently for what she has to add.

_Contracted demons are weaker when they’re not touching the human that contracted them. That probably also explains why he’s cold all the time._

And then, in a different message: _Has he improved any since this morning?_

Shizuo glances up from his phone to look at Izaya and is met with curious eyes. There aren’t dark circles under his eyes anymore so that’s certainly an improvement. The naps must’ve helped. And apparently all the physical contact between them up until a few minutes ago.

_Yeah, he’s pretty much back to normal now. Do you think it’s just because of how little we touched yesterday or was that girl actually a demon?_

Celty sends him an emoji that looks like it might be shrugging: _She could have been. Izaya would know that better than I do. I didn’t see her._

Shizuo thanks Celty for her help and drops his phone after silencing it. Izaya is still staring at him. He’s rolled over onto his stomach and his tail is flicking around in the air. He’s not sure if that’s curiosity or anxiety showing in that movement because he doesn’t know if cat and demon tail expressions are the same.

“What was that about?”

Shizuo shrugs, “I was asking Celty about some stuff.” He grabs his phone and moves over to the bed to lie down beside Izaya. He hands him the phone, “You can read it if you want.”

Izaya takes the phone from him and snuggles close into his side until he’s comfortable before he starts looking over the texts, starting from the one Shizuo sent this morning. He’s quiet most of the way through, though he giggled a bit in the beginning for reasons Shizuo doesn’t understand or ask about. When he finishes he locks the screen and drops the phone on the sheets on Shizuo’s other side.

“So?” Shizuo asks quietly after a few minutes of silence.

“Impatient.” Izaya chuckles, and after a brief pause, “Shizu-chan was worried about me.”

“I was--”

“Don’t tell me you weren’t.” Izaya hisses at him. He can hear the agitated thump of his tail against the bed. “I appreciate it.”

Shizuo sighs and threads his fingers into Izaya’s hair while he stares at the ceiling. There’s a smudge of ash above them from one of the many times Izaya has stolen his cigarettes. It makes him smile even though it was very irritating at the time. “Wasn’t denying that I was worried. I was going to ask what you thought about what Celty said.”

Izaya shrugs and scratches lightly on Shizuo’s abs, right above his navel, “We’d kind of already figured most of that out for ourselves. I’m not sure that the girl was a demon though.” Shizuo glances down at him and Izaya is looking at his nails contemplatively, “If she was then it was very low level. And she wasn’t one of mine.”

“One of yours?” Shizuo asks curiously.

Izaya grins at him, all sharp teeth and fangs. It’s not as intimidating as it used to be. “She’s not a greed demon.”

“Oh. That’s good.” He states needlessly, and then frowns at the look Izaya gives him, “Isn’t it?”

Izaya ignores his question, “Did you think she was mine?”

His eyebrows pull together in confusion, “I don’t know? I thought she was a normal human until I was told that wasn’t the case.”

“No, Shizu-chan. You’re misunderstanding me. Did you think I wouldn’t remember one of the demons I govern?” He sounds offended, but his expression is devoid of any easily recognizable emotion.

“I don’t know how any of that works, let alone how many of them there are for you to keep track of.” Shizuo shuts his eyes and lies back on the pillow again, suddenly feeling very tired, “Wouldn’t they send one you wouldn’t recognize if they were trying to keep track of you?”

Sharp nails dig roughly into his skin, “I don’t know.”

“She didn’t say anything and she didn’t follow us so maybe she’s just...here on her own.”

“That doesn’t mean she won’t report back to whoever sent her.”

Shizuo doesn’t know how to respond to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Books aren't always right. 
> 
> I'm saying this because there have been things that they've learned from books that haven't been correct before. In this case? Who knows. Thank you Celty for your help anyway, at the very least you've calmed Shizuo down for the time being. He's gonna need that for when he brings Izaya home to his family. 
> 
> I hope you're all doing well and that you're having a good weekend so far.


	6. Then There Were Six

Kururi is the first to notice Izaya’s absence. She isn’t sure what exactly sets her off. It’s incredibly rare for them to see each other. Her domain isn’t close to Izaya’s and he has always wandered more into Wrath’s territory than Mairu’s or Kururi’s. Envy and Gluttony are apparently less interesting to him.

Or he simply doesn’t wish to entertain his sisters with his presence.

Whatever his reason for staying away, Kururi has always been able to feel his presence. Now she can’t. It’s an odd sensation, like she’s lost something but can’t remember what it is until she thinks about her brother. She can feel Mairu just fine so it isn’t because she’s lost the ability to feel them. The only conclusion she can come up with is that Izaya is somehow either blocking her or he simply isn’t where he’s supposed to be.

Kururi doesn’t know where he is if he’s not here.

It takes Mairu significantly longer to notice, but when she does there’s an immediate change in her attitude. They’re in the middle of a conversation when Mairu’s face scrunches up in confusion. She blinks a few times and then looks around as if she is only just now aware of their surroundings. Then, in a quiet tone, she asks, “Where’s Izaya?”

It’s as if she’s afraid saying something about it will make it more real. Kururi understands that feeling. She hasn’t said anything this whole time despite the awful feeling in her chest.

However rare it is for Izaya to come visit them, it isn’t uncommon for them to wander into his territory. It is almost as familiar to them as their own, but it feels different when they go there now. After Kururi stopped being able to feel Izaya’s presence, the entire area feels like a foreign place rather than something that belongs to their brother.

They step inside and remain still for a long while after Kururi calls out to Izaya, just in case. It’s Mairu’s idea to look through his things when he doesn’t answer.

Kururi doubts this will reveal anything. It’s not like he would have left them an explanation.

His room is as organized as ever, but with one slight difference.

His nest of blankets looks untouched. Not just neat and folded up in the way she is used to seeing it. It looks like it hasn’t been slept in recently.

While she is still glaring at the nest with concern coursing through her, Mairu wanders into his bath chambers. She comes back after only a moment and states, “Something’s wrong.”

Kururi stares at her blankly, trying to comprehend what she could’ve picked up from such a brief search, and then watches her shoulders when she turns around to indicate what she’s talking about. It’s hard to see past Mairu but as soon as she steps into the room with her she notices that there is water all over the floor. There’s no steam coming from the bath itself and there’s smoke pooling along the ceiling when she glances up at it.

“What do you think the smoke means?” Mairu asks quietly.

Kururi is frowning, she can feel the ache of it in her cheeks, but her mind is empty of ideas. Except for one. “Summoning smoke.”

“What?” Mairu growls at her, “Izaya’s never been summoned before, why would it happen now?” She shakes her head and avoids eye contact, “It must be from something else. Maybe he made Lucifer angry again and--”

“Lucifer doesn’t summon.”

“It might not be summoning smoke,” Mairu announces vehemently. “You’ve never seen that up close.”

“I have,” Kururi narrows her eyes at the smoke along the ceiling, so similar to that which she’d found in her sister’s bedroom eons ago. “When you were.”

Mairu falls silent immediately.

Kururi turns around and inspects the ceiling in the bedroom where tiny bits of the smoke have escaped to, “He fought.”

“What?” Mairu looks at her and follows her gaze, “Oh. He was probably confused and tried to get away from it, like I did. It happens pretty fast,” she motions to the water on the floor, “that would explain the water as well.”

“Ask Mikage,” Kururi whispers and when Mairu’s forehead crinkles in confusion, she clarifies, “for help.”

Wrath is a blisteringly hot territory that Kururi has only been to a few times, but she likes Mikage more than most and knows that she will be willing to help. Her companionship with Izaya might not be the friendliest, but she is more likely to have noticed his absence than even Lucifer himself and has far more resources than the twins do.

“I haven’t seen him.”

Or not.

Mikage glances between the two of them, “This isn’t a joke is it? I know Izaya likes to play games, but I hadn’t pinned you two for the sort to help him out.”

Kururi shakes her head at the same time Mairu crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow, “Why would he include us in any of his plots? He’s always made it a point to avoid the two of us as much as possible. He spends far more time with you, so, really, out of everyone who might know his whereabouts, you’re the first that comes to mind.” Mikage opens her mouth to speak and Mairu growls about the interruption. Kururi hears the annoyed snap of the other’s teeth as she closes her mouth.

“Resources,” Kururi reminds her sister and Mairu nods. “Your domain reaches into other realms, does it not?”

“So what if it does.”

“Help us,” Kururi begs, voice faintly pleading.

Mikage crosses her arms and stares into Kururi’s eyes for a long moment of silence, and looks at Mairu when she seems to find whatever it is she’s looking for, “What’s in it for me if I help you? We’d all be fine if Izaya stayed missing. Greed practically runs itself at this point.”

“Only because he has planned so far in advance. What happens once his minions realize he’s not around to keep them in check and they wander off? There are no replacements.”

“Lucifer is fully capable of handling another territory.”

Kururi narrows her eyes, “Are you going to tell him that?”

Mikage’s mouth turns down into a harsher frown.

Mairu chuckles, “We’re certainly not going to tell him. You know what he’ll do when he finds out. It’s best to avoid his fury, don’t you think? Even as the overseer of Wrath you’ve not seen anything quite like his, have you.”

“I suppose not.” Mikage absently thumbs at the gem in her palm as she mulls this over. She starts pacing after a short time and Kururi watches the distraction of red and gold fabric billowing around her long legs. She’s never understood why Mikage puts up with this particular discomfort but she has enough awareness to realize how long the after effects of being summoned last. She’d watched Mairu struggle to reacquaint herself once she had returned as well.

Eventually Mairu gets bored of standing and has settled herself on the rough stone beneath their feet when Mikage turns abruptly on her heel to face them, “I will help you, but I need a favor if I do it.”

Kururi speaks up first, ignoring the way her sister grumbles under her breath about it, “What do you need?”

“It takes a lot of concentration to keep track of that many demons, even lesser ones, so I will need assistance listening to their reports when they contact me. I do not trust anyone aside from you to keep this a secret. My involvement is bad enough. If we left this alone then the only one suffering for it would be Izaya.” She narrows her eyes as she glances between them, “If this is a trick then I’m dragging all of you down with me for it. I’d rather leave Izaya to suffer wherever he is than piss Lucifer off.”

Mairu shrugs, “It’s not that bad to be on the receiving end of his anger. He’s never struck me no matter how many times I prod at him.”

Mikage starts pacing again, completely ignoring Mairu’s contribution to the conversation, “There is a wide area that each demon can cover but we have no idea where he might be so that makes it a bit trickier.”

Mairu frowns about being ignored. “He probably doesn’t look exactly like himself either. If he’s among humans he’s likely to have conformed to whatever appearance is acceptable to them. He’s also likely to be wearing _clothes_ ,” she hisses, offended by the reminder of her own time among humans.

“He could be in danger,” Kururi adds quietly.

Mikage shakes her head at the same time that Mairu speaks up, “That would depend on which human he’s with and where they are. I wasn’t in danger when I was summoned.” She narrows her eyes and glances over at the other demon, “Were you?”

She shrugs, “Not particularly. Humans are weak creatures.”

“Underestimating them,” Kururi mumbles and Mairu nods her agreement, “They’re strong enough to figure out how to summon us, and now Izaya. I wouldn’t take them so lightly.”

“If I meet one that impresses me then I might have a different opinion, but for now I do not.” She thumbs at her gem again and when she looks up to meet their eyes afterward there is an excited glint in them, “Let’s look for your brother, shall we?”

Time passes and the process is far more tedious than Kururi expected it to be. There are a lot of human places for the demons to check and even in those places they have to remain hidden themselves to avoid suspicion. Finding Izaya seems like an immense, almost impossible task. With only his demonic appearance to go off of and his essence that he could easily be masking, Kururi is doubtful that even lesser demons that had previously been acquainted with him would be able to find him. Let alone Wrath demons that may have met him once or have only a basic knowledge of his appearance from what Mikage or the twins have told them.

“He could find his way back on his own,” Mairu announces once, when Kururi is despairing strongly enough for her sister to notice. “I did.”

She knows that Mairu is correct, but she has a bad feeling that Izaya can’t come back on his own or he would have already. He was never particularly attentive to the rules Lucifer tried to drill into their heads about what not to do if summoned by a human.

“As long as he hasn’t taken any blood from whatever human called him there, he’ll be fine,” Mairu continues. “And even if he has there are still ways. None that I can recall, but Izaya is smart and has a great memory. He’ll come back, one way or another.”

Kururi doesn’t share her certainty.

“What was it like?”

“The human world? It was pretty boring. Too cold for my taste.” Mairu leans on her palm and stares off into the distance with a look of concentration, “I didn’t like the human I was with. He was a strange little thing. His sister was very kind and made some very good food. Though she always insisted on putting me in multiple layers of clothing. I loathed that experience more than anything else.” Her nails claw into the stone table they’re sitting at and heat gathers in the air around them in response to her emotion, “It was improper for a lady to walk around disrobing as she pleased. Or so I was told. There were plenty of women I saw walking around with less on than they insisted I wear.”

Kururi thinks about this for a moment, and out of concern for her sister’s previous discomfort, asks,“Your wings?”

Mairu rolls her eyes, “I had to dematerialize them. The humans freaked out about that most of all. Even above the horns and fangs. I would’ve thought those would be more terrifying but I’ll never pretend to understand humans.”

“The humans I was with never demanded a thing out of me. They were cowards,” Mikage’s voice adds from behind them. Kururi was so absorbed by what Mairu was saying that she didn’t hear or feel the other demon enter their space. When Mikage walks around to sit in front of them Kururi notices the faint glow emanating from her palm that indicates she’s in the middle of a conversation with a demon outside of their dimension.

Mikage is grinning at her when she looks up, “I may have information on your brother’s whereabouts.”

Mairu perks up immediately, “Already?”

Mikage’s expression darkens slightly, “Time passes faster for humans than it does for us. They’re able to collect a lot of information and report to me within a few cycles here when it’s been many weeks there.”

“Weeks?” Kururi asks, startled, “But that’s…”

“If Izaya has been gone as long as I think he has, he’s been there for at least two months.” Mairu hums in response to this and Mikage makes eye contact with her instead, “If what I have just been told is correct, then Izaya is safe.” There’s hesitation at the end of her explanation that Kururi catches and Mairu inhales to say something about it just as Mikage continues, “I’ll let her explain the situation to you herself.”

Mikage holds out her hand, palm up, “Alright, Saki, tell them what you told me.”

The gem glows a brilliant red and then fades to a pale pink. It flashes once and above it the demon Mikage called Saki appears. Her lips are tilted into a soft smile and her posture is polite. She bows to them before she speaks, “My Princes, I have news of your brother.”

“Where is he?” Mairu blurts. Kururi expects Mikage to respond by laughing or at least chastising her impatience, but her expression is serious and she says nothing.

Saki’s voice is quiet, “I’m not sure of his exact location, but he stopped by the shop I have been working in just a few hours ago. He was with a...human.”

Mikage’s expression twists, “You say that as if you’re uncertain again.”

“He looks human. I have no reason aside from his essence to assume otherwise. Perhaps Izaya’s connection to him has changed him in some way and that’s why he seems strange.” She seems uncomfortable with explaining this but something stands out about what she said more than the rest.

“Changed him?” Kururi asks, glancing at Mikage to see her response to this information. Her expression is the same as before.

“I’ve never been witness to a Prince’s contract with a human before, so I am uncertain what sorts of changes the human goes through. I am also not close enough to them and have not witnessed much of what they have done together.” There is a brief pause where Saki looks at Mikage for confirmation and then continues, “They seem rather close.”

Mikage sighs, annoyed by Saki’s vagueness, “It’s possible Izaya has broken some of the rules. That’s what she’s trying to say without actually saying it. I’ve asked for your honesty, Saki, not for you to worry about offending any of us.”

Saki bows her head, “Forgive me. But I do not wish to assume that Izaya has done anything against Lucifer’s wishes.”

“Tell them about the human. What’s so strange about him?”

“I believe there is more to him than what I know, otherwise Izaya wouldn’t seem so satisfied with his position under him, but what I have seen is just that his essence is gold.”

Kururi’s eyebrows furrow, “What?”

Mairu glares at Saki’s projection, “What does that mean? Humans don’t have gold essences, do they?”

Saki shakes her head, “No, they don’t. I am uncertain if the color has come from Izaya sharing blood with him or if this human is simply more than he appears to be.”

Mairu and Mikage both hiss at this information while Kururi mulls it over silently.

Mairu voices her observations as if she can read Kururi’s mind, “Izaya’s essence is a dark red. That wouldn’t carry into a human’s essence as gold, would it?”

Saki shrugs, “I have never seen the affects that a Prince’s blood has on a human’s essence. As far as I am aware of it is entirely possible. The only one that would know for sure is--”

“We’re not talking to Lucifer about this,” Mikage announces. “If Izaya has given this human his blood and made him into something other than what he is then that’s his problem.”

Kururi stares at her, and then tilts her head when an idea strikes her, “Saika knows.”

Saki visibly shudders at the mention of the other Prince’s name, “But it’s forbidden to--”

“It’s forbidden for you. Thank you for your assistance, Saki. Inform me if you see him again or if you learn anything else useful.” Mikage disconnects immediately after she finishes speaking and then gives Kururi a hard look, “We’re not supposed to ask Saika about that. She’s the reason we have the rule not to share blood with or take blood from humans in the first place. Why do you think she’s hidden away within her own territory and we never see her?”

“Because Lust is dangerous,” Mairu states in a bored tone. “That’s what Lu has always told us, anyway. I’m sure Saika would be more than happy to have three other Princes to talk to after however long she’s been on her own. And it will be enlightening, I’m sure.”

“She’s not alone,” Mikage grumbles, “she has lesser demons to govern over. Same as the rest of us.”

Mairu rolls her eyes and stands so that she has the advantage of height over Mikage, “How would you feel if you only ever had lesser demons to talk to for all of eternity? You’d get bored and you know it.”

Mikage’s mouth twists on amusement, “I have connections to other dimensions actually. Those lesser demons are far more entertaining than any of the rest of you.”

“Except Izaya,” Kururi adds and watches the grin melt off of the other’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, look, demons. There's some plot stuff happening here that I didn't expect but that's alright with me. The more plot the better. Just as a clarification on this, the Princes are referring to the other demons as 'lesser' because they have less demonic blood in them, not because they think of them as lesser beings. Maybe some of them do, but not these three. 
> 
> I hope you like this little intermission. Sorry it took me so long to post it. I've been really busy lately. There'll be a bit more about the demons later on, but next time it'll be back to Shizuo and Izaya. 
> 
> I hope you're all doing well!!


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